


Other Plans

by lasersheith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Daddy Kink, Fluff, M/M, Porn With Plot, Smut, Sugar Daddy, age gap, i promise i'll finish this someday..., just??? lots of porn don't @ me, side pairing: sheith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-04-28 22:32:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14459196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasersheith/pseuds/lasersheith
Summary: Matt's just trying to make ends meet while he puts himself through school. He ends up working the VIP room at his upscale restaurant gig and meets a strangely captivating customer. An incredibly hot, incredibly rich customer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> uuuuuhhhh I guess this is who I am now  
> sorry, grandma
> 
> Also I was too embarrassed at myself to even go back and proofread this, so feel free to yell at me if you noticed weird typos and stuff.

A gentle hand on his shoulder had Matt groaning and opening his eyes. “Hey, it’s almost time for you to leave for work.” Shiro squeezed once before letting go as Matt stretched and rubbed his eyes. Just as minor panic was about to set in, Shiro smiled at him. “I was already ironing my uniform, so I went ahead and did your stuff, too. It’s hanging up in the bathroom.” Matt leaned back against his chair and tried to roll the crick out of his neck- _that’s what I get for accidentally falling asleep at my desk again,_ he mused to himself as he stood up with a yawn.

“You’re a beautiful angel and I don’t deserve you.” He said with a sleepy grin. Shiro laughed and shook his head.

He was fiddling with something in the pocket of his sweatpants and Matt gave him a suspicious glance. Shiro’s cheeks tinted a faint pink. “I was actually wondering if you could uh…” Matt crossed his arms and looked at Shiro expectantly. “Keith’s really hung up over his test tomorrow, I was wondering if you could give this to him for me?” He pulled out a small plastic container with a single red rose inside.

Matt grabbed it with a wide smile. “Aw, you big sap!” He tucked the flower into the main compartment of his backpack.

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled uncomfortably. “Guilty as charged.” The blush had spread to the tips of his ears.

“I’ll make sure he gets it, it’ll definitely brighten his day.” Matt said as he walked to the bathroom to get dressed. He patted Shiro’s back on the way by.

As promised, his black dress shirt and matching pants were hanging on the door- expertly ironed and looking leagues better than when Matt did it himself. He brushed his teeth and splashed cold water on his face to hopefully bring him further into the land of the living.

Working on Thursday was a bummer any week, but it was an especially big bummer considering he had a huge lab practical exam the following day and he'd fallen asleep during his only time to study. He sighed as he threw on the uncomfortable uniform and grabbed his backpack, helmet, and keys before wishing Shiro a good night.

His shiny green Vespa was parked in the same space as Shiro’s giant black Harley and Matt smiled as he strapped on his helmet. While it looked a bit silly, it saved them a ton of money on an additional parking space at their overcrowded apartment complex. He backed the scooter out carefully so he didn’t ding the doors of the oversized SUV that had parked far too close or scratch Shiro’s precious “baby.” The drive to Arus Lounge was a short one and the weather was beautiful, so Matt was dreading the evening shift a little less as he pulled into the employee parking lot.

He walked in through the back door and opened his locker, remembering the gift for Keith as he set his backpack down in the bottom. He pulled the rose out and slipped it into his pocket before he checked his hair in the mirror. Classic helmet-hair. He tried his best to shake it out and then smooth it back down into something approaching professionalism, but it had a mind of its own. He shrugged and tied his apron and bowtie quickly.

He almost jumped out of his skin as he turned around and saw Coran’s smiling face behind him. “Oh, this won’t do.” He said with a friendly grin as he reached up and retied Matt’s tie. “Big important customer tonight, and I need you in the VIP room.” He patted Matt’s neck where the newly straightened bow sat.

Matt’s good mood went out the window. “Ugh, why can’t Keith or Lance take the VIP room? I did it last week.” He sulked.

Coran’s smile didn’t fade a bit. “Keith’s a bit of a grump today and I want to make a good impression. He’s very stressed right now.” Matt sighed. Keith was his favorite coworker by far and also his best friend’s boyfriend so he didn’t mind taking that particular proverbial bullet.

“And Lance? The most stressed he’s ever been is that one time Shiro came in to pick Keith up while he was wearing a leather jacket.” Matt groused.

Coran’s eyes took on a haunted look. It had been a bad evening for everyone. “Lance and Hunk are playing another one of their games and you know how I love to encourage fun in the workplace!” He shook the dead-eyed smile quickly and the happy go lucky kooky uncle persona reemerged. He smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle on Matt’s shoulder. “And don’t tell the others, but you’ve always been my favorite.” He winked and headed back to the kitchen.

Matt chuckled and closed his locker. Coran said that to everyone when he made them work the VIP room. It almost always came with much better tips, but the customers were usually the haughty rich types that treated them like dirt. It was a little give and take. Matt sighed; between rent, food, and tuition he barely had two dimes to rub together, so he decided he’d put on his least fake smile and do a great job tonight. Hopefully it would be worth it.

When he walked into the kitchen he immediately regretted it. “Bonjour, mon amie!” Lance greeted him in a terrible French accent. He had a goofy pencil mustache somehow affixed to his upper lip. It was just a shade darker than his hair and it looked very unsettling.

Matt shook his head as he took stock of the wine situation. “I can’t believe my sister hangs out with you.”

Hunk laughed. “Oh come on, Matt! It’s funny!” He said as he prepped the hors d'oeuvres.

He rolled his eyes, but he had to admit it was at least a little funny. “So what’s the bet?” Lance grinned.

Lance lowered his voice and dropped the accent. “If I can stay in character from open to close and not get Coran called on me, Hunk is gonna do my statics homework for the rest of the semester.”

Shaking his head again, he patted Lance on the back. “Well good luck, buddy.” He looked around the room. “Hey, where’s Keith?”

Lance frowned. “Probably still screaming in the freezer.”

Matt chuckled. Everybody needed a good freezer-scream once in a while. He pulled the door open and quickly stepped inside the dim, icy closet. Keith was leaning his head against one of the shelves and taking deep, shuddery breaths. “Hey, pal, you ok?” Keith turned his head slightly but didn’t answer. “Well, a certain not-so-secret-admirer of yours wanted me to give this to you.” He pulled the flower out of his pocket and removed it from the protective case.

Keith reached out with big, wobbly eyes and smiled a tiny, soft smile that made Matt’s heart ache a little. He was happy for his friends, and they were great together, but it did make him just a bit envious. Even his own dog liked his sister better now that he’d moved out of their parents’ house. “Wow…” Keith whispered incredulously before he snapped part of the stem off and stuck the rose into his lapel pocket.

Matt grinned at him and patted him on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, man. Just a couple more weeks.” Keith nodded gratefully and they exited the large freezer together.

Coran was in the kitchen when they walked out, eyeing them suspiciously. “There better not have been any hanky panky going on there!” He wiggled his eyebrows as everyone cracked up. He took them through the nightly briefing as they went about preparing to open. Matt mentally went over everything he needed for his exam in the morning instead of paying attention.

Just before 6:00, Coran unlocked all the doors as Matt set the final folded napkin on the last table. His VIP guest wasn’t due to arrive until 6:30, so he headed back into the kitchen and smiled as he saw Keith taking a picture to send to Shiro. Lance and Hunk were saying random words in French back and forth with their abysmal accents. There were a lot worse places to work, he figured.

Coran came in and let Lance know that his first guests of the evening had arrived and he went to greet them with the wine list, putting on his most dignified face and thrusting his chin up in the air. “And you, my boy,” Coran started as he patted Matt’s lapels, “Are needed in the VIP room pronto. Best behavior, now!” He called in cheery tone. Matt forced a smile onto his face as he grabbed a bottle of champagne and two glasses. _Booking a VIP room on a Thursday AND being early? Ugh,_ he thought as he tried to relax the tension in his shoulders before knocking on the door.

The largest and most intimidating woman he’d ever seen in his life pulled it open after a brief delay. The shock must have shown on his face, because she glared down at him with contempt. “What do you want?” She growled out.

Matt swallowed and tried to smile as he held up the champagne. “I’m here to get you started with some champagne and see if there’s anything else I can do to make your evening as pleasant as possible, miss.” He hoped the enthusiasm didn’t sound as forced out loud as it had in his head.

“Zethrid, let the poor boy in, he’s just a waiter.” A voice like velvet called from behind her. She grunted and stood back from the door. Matt tried not to let his jaw fall on the floor when he saw the man behind it.

He was obviously tall, even though he was sitting down. His long, white hair flowed over his shoulders and his indigo eyes sparkled in the dim lighting. He was all sharp angles and smooth features. Matt felt his pulse thrum in his throat. It took him an uncomfortably long moment to notice the other two women in the room. He set the champagne and glasses on the table and began to pour. “I’ll be back in a moment with another two glasses for the rest of the champagne, is there anything else I can get for you all?” He couldn’t meet the man’s eyes.

The man turned his head to one of the women, the one that wasn’t lounging sideways in one of the large chairs, but instead leaning against the back wall. She nodded. “That won’t be necessary. Two glasses is plenty.” The sideways woman and the scary one by the door groaned but were silenced with a look. “Do you know when my… associate is supposed to arrive?” He asked as Matt finished topping off the second glass.

Their eyes met and their fingers brushed as the glass was exchanged. “Uh… sorry, no. Like you said, I’m just a waiter.” Matt could feel his face heat.

The small uptick of one side of the man’s lips had Matt’s breath caught fast in his chest. “Hmm… I suspect that’s not entirely true.” The look in his eyes was playful but Matt couldn’t get a good read on him.

He also couldn’t look away. “Is there anything else I can get you, sir? While you wait.” As soon as the word _sir_ left his mouth, Matt regretted ever learning the English language at all. The other end of the man’s mouth ticked up into something no one would call a smile. It reminded him of a shark, in a way.

“What’s your name?” The question seemed to hold an undue amount of weight to it.

Matt licked his lips. “Matthew.” He answered quietly.

The not-smile somehow didn’t fade from his features as he spoke. “Well, Matthew, that will be all for now. Thank you.” Matt swallowed hard and nodded instead of replying verbally. He wasn’t sure he could have if his life had depended on it.

He shuffled quickly for the door, which Zethrid held open for him with another scowl, and made his way back to the kitchen. Luckily Hunk was busy preparing a few meals and Lance, Keith, and Coran were in the front of the restaurant serving and seating guests. Matt walked straight back into the freezer and shut the door firmly behind him. He screamed.

..

“What the hell was that all about, Lotor?” Acxa asked with an unimpressed frown.

He smirked at her. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” He answered as he stood, handing her the other glass of champagne.

Ezor snickered from her spot on the chair. “Uh… I think she means the super obvious flirting with that kid, boss.” She turned herself right-side up and smoothed a few wrinkles out of her suit.

He frowned at her. “I’d hardly call that flirting.” Lotor protested. Acxa huffed from her spot against the wall.

Zethrid yawned. “How long are we gonna wait for this idiot to show up? It’s been like 5 decades already.” She muttered.

Lotor looked at his watch. “He should be here any moment, I’d imagine. I hope I don’t need to remind you all how important this meeting is.” He shot a hard look at Ezor and Zethrid. “I want you both to let myself and Acxa do all the talking. I’d rather not go to jail over this if it could be avoided.” The three women offered their acknowledgements in varying degrees of enthusiasm.

There was another knock on the door. Zethrid pulled it open as Lotor approached. Coran stood on the other side with another large man, deepset frown on his face. He gestured the man inside. Lotor shook his hand with a pleasant smile on his face. It wasn’t returned. “Mr. Smythe, another glass and bottle of your finest, if you please.”

Coran nodded. “Right away.” He replied cheerfully. “Anything else I can get for you, ladies and gents?”

Lotor’s smile faded as the other man took his seat across the table. “No, that’ll be all.” Zethrid shut the door in his face. Coran’s mustache wiggled as he wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Matt had finally extracted himself from his frozen exile and was helping Hunk chop vegetables when Coran came back into the kitchen, looking like he had just sucked on a lemon. Matt’s heart sank. “Sorry, lad, I’ll put a little something extra in tomorrow’s check for _that_ mess.” He said with a sigh. Matt was thankful, most people hated their bosses but Coran was a good guy. “They need another glass and bottle of bubbly, stat!” He was back out to the front area before he could see Matt’s eyes roll into the back of his head or hear the pained groan he let out. Hunk chuckled to himself as he chopped.

He left the kitchen again after grabbing the glass and champagne. His closed fist hovered over the door to the private room and he paused to take a steadying breath. It took an agonizing few seconds after he knocked for Zethrid to wordlessly open the door. He walked in and greeted the newcomer with a warm smile that he was sure didn’t reach his eyes before opening the bottle and starting to pour. The room was ominously silent.

The man held up a palm and shook his head as Matt offered the full glass so he put it back down on the table, turning to the other side. It seemed like a completely different person was sitting in that chair now. His jaw was clenched and any part of his face that had been pleasant before was now edged in acid.

“Will that be all, sir?” Matt wasn’t sure what made him say it, or why the ever so slight softening of the man’s features made his heart jump.

The man looked back at him with an inscrutable expression. “For now. I’ll send for you should I require anything else.” Matt nodded and hastily made his exit. It was going to be a long night.

..

Zethrid let out a disgusted sound from the back of her throat. “Well that sucked.” Acxa shot her a look.

“That’s putting it mildly.” Lotor replied with a sigh as he shrugged off his jacket, tossing it unceremoniously onto the back of his chair. He rolled the sleeves of his lavender shirt up to his elbows and then drained his glass of champagne.

Ezor snickered as she and Zethrid exchanged a look. Acxa placed her empty glass on the table. “Now we’re in a bit of a bind.” She crossed her arms and looked at him, sympathy written all over her face.

Lotor poured another glass and sat back down, slouching with his legs spread wide. “Kolivan was our best bet, but we knew it was a gamble. He’s too cautious and now he knows far too much.” He took another sip.

Ezor giggled a little. “We could make him go sleep with the fishes.” She dramatically dragged a finger across her throat and stuck her tongue out.

Lotor rolled his eyes. “Ah yes, that’ll look splendid on the evening news: insider trading, corporate espionage, and conspiracy to commit murder. My mother will be so proud.” He said, voice dripping with sarcasm as he drained the second glass as well. “Ezor, go fetch our waiter.” He grumbled out.

She shot him a wide grin. “Ooooh you need somethin’ pretty to look at after that mess?” Acxa glared at her incredulously.

“Tell me, do I pay you to make pithy comments or do I pay you to follow my orders?” His voice took on a dangerous tone. She gave him a mock salute and headed out the door.

Matt was seeing how many cherry tomatoes he could successfully throw into Lance’s mouth as Keith tried to block them (while Hunk kept score, of course) when she threw open the door to the kitchen with a feral grin. “Oh Matty-poo, your presence is required.” Matt dropped the handful of tomatoes on the floor and washed his hands quickly.

He dried them on a towel before making his way back to the other room with her. “You’re not really supposed to go into the kitchen, by the way.” He muttered. He’d been kicking Keith’s ass and now he knew they were going to try to call it a wash because they didn’t make it to the lightning round.

Matt felt like he was the one holding 7 cherry tomatoes in his mouth as he walked into the room. A slight pink blush had found its way to the man’s cheeks and the tips of his ears, and Matt had been saying it should be illegal for hot guys to roll their sleeves up like that since he was in highschool. Coran had better have given him a big bonus for this hell-night. “What else can I get for you, some more champagne?” He asked with a shaky smile. The two bottles from earlier both still had a few glasses left in them and Matt knew they costed a small fortune.

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. “I’m tired of champagne. What do you like to drink?” He asked, playful smile making a dangerous combination with his newly disheveled appearance.

Matt coughed. “Well, I’m in college, so like… nothing good.” Several rounds of snickers reminded him of where he was and who he was talking to. He cleared his throat. He couldn’t believe he just said that to a customer. The genuine laugh it earned him made it feel worth the risk, though.

Lotor sighed after he finished laughing. “I want something cheap and sweet. Surprise me.” That same shark-like not-smile reappeared.

Cheeks burning red, Matt nodded. “Right away.”

The door clicked behind him and three pairs of eyes burned into him with a thousand questions. “You’re all dismissed for the evening. I’ll send for a car when I’m ready to leave.” His voice offered no room for quarrel.

Acxa sighed as Zethrid and Ezor stayed put. “You heard him, we’re done here.” She said sharply. Lotor gave her a tight-lipped smile full of gratitude. She nodded at him as she herded the other women out the door and back to their car.

Lotor sighed again and put his head in his hands. The evening wasn’t quite playing out how he’d planned. A soft knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. _It might not end up being a total waste, at least_ , he thought as he smoothed his hair back down and opened it.

Matt walked in quickly and pulled a bottle of Sweet Tartz Vodka out from behind his apron. “Full disclosure,” He started as Lotor closed the door. “We don’t actually sell this, one of my coworkers had it in the freezer and I’m currently blackmailing him for it, so…” He trailed off as Lotor laughed again.

“You’ll be handsomely rewarded for your efforts, I assure you.” The sultry tone in his voice had Matt’s heart beating wildly in his chest. He realized a moment later as he busied his hands opening the vodka that he hadn’t brought a glass. Lotor grabbed the last still full glass of champagne and drained it in one gulp. Matt couldn’t tear his eyes away from how Lotor’s throat moved. “Here, these’ll do nicely.” He scooped up one of the other empty glasses and held them for Matt to pour.

He looked around again and noted the absence of Lotor’s previous companions. Matt swallowed hard and tried to keep his hands steady as he filled them. He recapped the bottle and set it on the table. Lotor held one glass towards Matt’s stomach as he took a sip out of the other. “Oh. I have to drive home tonight, I probably shouldn’t…” He trailed off again. Lotor grimaced at the bite of cheap, sickly sweet alcohol on his tongue.

“Nonsense. I’ll have my car take you home, stay awhile.” Something about the half-demanding half-pleading look in his eyes had Matt taking a wary sip. Lotor smiled at him and sat down on the couch in the back of the room. “Come on, then.” He urged with a playful smirk. Matt took off his apron and joined him.

Matt took another sip and immediately felt like he needed to brush his teeth. “Not that I’m complaining, but most of our guests don’t really do this kind of thing.” He blurted out, suddenly even more keenly aware that they were alone in the room.

Lotor laughed again, another genuine laugh of surprise. “You really have no idea who I am, do you?” He stared at Matt in open admiration.

Matt’s throat felt like the sahara. He shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t. I actually don’t even know your name, I wasn’t really listening when my boss told me earlier.” It drew another laugh.

“Well, Matthew, my name is Lotor, and it’s very nice to meet you.” He held his glass up as if he’d just made a toast.

Matt followed his lead and took another sip. “So, are you gonna tell me why I should know who you are or…?”

Lotor was clearly tipsy at this point, his smiles becoming wider and more frequent. “I think I’d rather not, let’s talk about you instead. You mentioned that you’re a student, what do you study?”

He shrugged. “Uh, astrophysics.” Lotor’s eyes widened and he straightened up.

He took another generous sip that Matt matched. “Really? How fascinating. Tell me, what are your thoughts on the James Webb Space Telescope being delayed again?”

Matt groaned and drained his drink. “Hang on, I’m gonna need another drink for this.”

..

Two hours and an entire bottle of cheap vodka later, Lotor’s head was thrown back over the edge of the couch and he was laughing so hard his whole body shook. Matt was grinning from ear to ear, bowtie untied and hanging slack around his neck. “So then he says, ‘well why should I should care?’ and I’m trying not to piss myself laughing at this point and I go, ‘Dude! That was _Neil deGrasse-Tyson!’”_ Matt devolved into a fit of giggles himself as Lotor’s uproarious laughter spurred him on.

A quiet knock at the door interrupted their lively discussion. Lotor cleared his throat and stood up, wobbled slightly, and fell back onto the couch. Matt almost snorted as he tried to keep himself from laughing again. Another knock sounded at the door. Lotor tried again to stand and made his way on unsteady legs to go answer it. He schooled his features into an unamused neutral expression and opened the door. Coran’s smiling face was behind it. “Hello, sorry to interrupt, but we’re about to close down for the evening.” He shot a suspicious look Matt’s way.

Lotor frowned. “Surely I could persuade you for just a bit more of your time? I don’t mind an additional charge, you have all my information.” His voice didn’t show even the slightest hint at the frankly irresponsible amount of alcohol he’d drank that evening, Matt was impressed.

Coran looked over at him again. “Matt, you have a key. I’ll take care of locking up the front. Sorry, but you’ll have to leave through the employee exit since it’s after hours.” Matt and Lotor both nodded.

“That won’t be a problem. Thank you for your generosity.” His words slurred just a hint on his last word and the corner of his mouth ticked up in a smile. Coran bid them a good night and headed back towards the kitchen as Lotor shut the door.

The look in Lotor’s eyes had Matt questioning his decision to agree to stay. “It is getting kind of late, maybe we should call it a night.” He said breathlessly as Lotor walked back to the couch and sat next to him again, close enough that their legs touched from hip to ankle.

He swallowed hard as Lotor slid an arm around the back of the couch, and reached forward with the other hand to cup Matt’s chin and pull it towards him. “I can call a car right now, if you’d like.” He whispered, so close Matt could feel his breath on his face. “But I had something rather different in mind.” Matt blinked once and licked his lips, every hair on his body felt like it was standing on end.

He leaned forward just the slightest bit and pressed their lips together. Lotor surged forward and all but tackled Matt sideways onto the cushions. Their teeth clacked and Matt saw stars behind his closed eyelids as their mouths and tongues slid together. He felt Lotor’s hand grab blindly at his knees and followed the pull until both of his legs were wrapped around Lotor’s waist.

Matt turned his head and gasped at the electric feeling that shot through him as Lotor ground their hips together. He felt like he was 16 again, back in his mom’s basement with his first boyfriend, as they exchanged heated kisses and rutted against each other. Lotor left a trail of wet, sloppy kisses down Matt’s cheek until he got to the soft skin of Matt’s neck. He licked and sucked and finally bit down, hard. “Fuck…” Matt moaned low in his throat. He knew that was going to leave a rather incriminating mark, but it felt too good to care about just then.

The constant assault on the sensitive skin of his neck and the steady roll of Lotor’s hips had it feeling a little too much like his teenage years for comfort, far too quickly for Matt’s tastes. He moved his hand from where it had been tightly gripping the abused upholstery and pushed gently at Lotor’s face. He looked up right away, concern covering his features. “Are you alright?” He gasped out.

Matt nodded. “It was getting a little dicey there is all.” He said with a tipsy smile.

Lotor’s concern leaked away quickly as the meaning of the euphemism dawned on him. He looked around with a frown. “We may need to call that car, after all.” Matt tried not to let the disappointment show on his face, but Lotor’s smirk had him furrowing his brows in confusion. “I’m ill-equipped to take what I want here. The car’s well stocked.” Matt barely managed to let out a breathless affirmation before Lotor’s mouth claimed his again.

A moment later, he pulled back and abruptly stood, fishing his phone out of his discarded jacket. He sent a text and put it back before rounding on Matt again. “5 minutes.”

Matt licked his swollen lips and nodded. “I should… I should lock up and get my stuff.”

Lotor leaned down for a soft, gentle kiss that had Matt's head reeling. “I'll meet you outside then?” Matt nodded. Lotor took his hand and laced their fingers together as they walked out of the room. The adrenaline had done a quick job of sobering him up as he grabbed his backpack in a daze. He fished the keys out of the side pocket and felt Lotor’s hand on the small of his back. He stared at his helmet for moment before closing the door.

Lotor had his back pinned to the harsh, cold metal before the clang had finished echoing in the empty hall. Their mouths met again and Matt wrapped his arms around Lotor’s neck. He grunted a little in surprise as Lotor hefted him up off the ground by the backs of his thighs and then again as their hips rocked together. He pulled back with a harsh gasp as Lotor’s pocket vibrated. “Guess you won’t meet me outside then.” He said with a chuckle, suddenly feeling a little drunk again. Lotor smirked and gently lowered him down, offering his arm for Matt to hold as they walked out. Matt dropped it almost immediately to turn around and lock the door after them.

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a full stretch limousine in the tiny back parking lot. Lotor strode up to the sleek black car and opened the door for Matt to climb in. He felt extremely silly and out of his depth as he tossed his backpack onto the floor and slid to the middle of the bench seat. Lotor climbed in after him and shut the door. The driver stayed put.

Before he could even work out a single one of the thousands of questions his brain was desperate to ask, Lotor was gliding the back of a soft hand down Matt’s overheated cheek. He ran the knuckles across Matt’s lips and groaned as Matt took two of his large fingers in his mouth. He ran his tongue along and in between both digits languidly as they locked eyes. Lotor swallowed hard as his gaze kept shifting from Matt’s eyes to the fingers disappearing past his lips.

“I’ve changed my mind.” He said suddenly, pulling his fingers out with a pop. Matt was about to ask if he’d done something wrong when Lotor pulled him forward roughly and he found himself straddling Lotor’s lap. Those large hands slid down his back and gripped hard at his ass. Matt allowed himself to be pulled into Lotor’s chest and steadied himself by holding onto Lotor’s shoulders. “Come home with me.” He whispered into Matt’s ear before nipping hard on the lobe.

He didn’t even let himself consider for a moment before he was grunting out “yeah, absolutely,” into Lotor’s soft hair.

Lotor pushed a button on the door that was evidently an intercom. “Home. Quickly, please.” Two clicks sounded back and then the car was moving.

Feeling suddenly emboldened, he pushed Lotor against the seat by his shoulders and grabbed a handful of silky white hair as he leaned in for another bruising kiss. He smiled against Lotor’s mouth as a hand returned to knead at the back of his upper thigh and another roughly untucked his shirt before snaking its way up his back. Surprisingly sharp nails dragged across his heated skin and he couldn’t tamp down the moan that spilled out.

Their lips and bodies moved together and against each other for the entire 15 or so minutes it took to get to Lotor’s highrise apartment building. Lotor opened the door, Matt still in his lap, as soon as the car came to a complete stop. They clambered gracelessly out of the door, but Matt grabbed it before Lotor could slam it shut. He leaned over the seat and retrieved his backpack. Lotor shook his head wordlessly in amusement before taking Matt’s hand again. He patted the driver side front window in gratitude as they passed by on the way to the elevator.

The harsh lighting and quiet whir of electronics as they ascended to the penthouse had a surreal disbelief crawling up Matt’s spine. Lotor must have seen the discomfort on his face and brought Matt’s hand up to his lips, kissing the back of it softly. “I can have her take you home, if you’d like.” He said, eyes burning into Matt’s. Matt shook his head but couldn’t bring himself to speak.

The quiet ding sounded their arrival and the doors opened to a small landing area before another large set of doors. Lotor walked up to a panel on the wall and scanned his thumb before putting a code into a keypad that Matt made himself look away from. As soon as they stepped through the door, Matt was pressed up against it from the inside, his backpack thrown harshly to the expensive-looking wood. There wasn’t time to think about the contents before Lotor’s mouth was on his again.

He found himself hoisted back into the air, legs locked around the now familiar waist. His arms wrapped around Lotor’s shoulders again and he held on tightly as Lotor pulled them away from the door. He turned and took a step, freezing at the harsh crunching noise he heard. Matt looked down at the large foot now standing in the middle of his backpack. “That was probably my phone…” He said with a cringe.

Lotor closed his eyes but didn’t set Matt down. “I’ll buy you a new one.” He said immediately, guilt clearly written all over his face as Matt’s eyes roved over him.

“Fuck it. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” The tiny voice in the back of his mind screamed _bad idea_ but he shrugged it off and ducked down for another kiss. Concern flashed over Lotor’s features briefly as he dodged Matt’s attempt. “Come on, let’s go.” He urged desperately, brushing a stray lock of hair from Lotor’s face.

Finally deciding to agree with worrying about the broken phone later, he walked them quickly to the back of the spacious apartment and set him gently on the large bed. He kicked off his own shoes and then pulled Matt’s off before climbing on top of him.

Lotor only pressed their mouths together for a moment before returning to his new favorite spot just above Matt’s collar. He yanked hard at the fabric of his dress shirt in an attempt to get to more skin and a few buttons flew off. “Shit.” He breathed. Lotor tilted his head back to take in Matt’s bewildered expression. “It’s already ruined, might as well do the whole thing.” Matt said with a humorless chuckle. Lotor didn’t waste any time ripping the rest of the fabric off and throwing the now partially-shredded shirt to the side. “Shit… why is that so hot?” Matt murmured as he pulled his undershirt off over his head.

Lotor smirked and made quick work of his pants and underwear before tossing Matt over onto his stomach like he weighed nothing. Matt shook his head. This whole experience was going to leave him with some rather unfortunate new interests. He shuddered briefly as Lotor kissed and licked his way from in between Matt’s shoulder blades all down his back. He gripped Matt’s ass hard again and spread him open wide. “I’ve been dying to do this all night.” He said with a near growl. All Matt could do was moan as Lotor licked a wide stripe over his entrance.

His upper body went limp against the too soft sheets and he thrashed his head back and forth, babbling nonsense as Lotor’s tongue probed its way inside. He held Matt firmly in place as he took his time savoring the alternating quiet gasps and loud curses each pass of lips and tongue brought. “Fuck, you gotta… come on…” Matt moaned out hard, reaching a hand back and flailing it helplessly in Lotor’s direction. He grabbed Matt’s wrist and flipped him over onto his back again.

Matt swallowed hard and stared up at the ceiling in a haze for a moment before the city lights that shone through the window were eclipsed by a canopy of silvery white hair. Matt moaned into the kiss as Lotor licked into his mouth again. He was desperate for more skin on skin contact and started clumsily pulling on buttons at random. Taking the hint, Lotor leaned back and ripped the buttons off his own shirt as well. Matt sighed happily. “Well now you’re just showing off.”

Lotor’s smirk reminded him acutely of the ache between his legs. “I haven’t begun to show off.” He said playfully. Matt’s head swam as Lotor stood up off the bed and removed the rest of his clothes. After a quick detour to the drawer of a bedside table, he was back on the bed and towering over Matt again. Matt’s hands roved over every inch of newly exposed skin he could reach as Lotor kissed along his collarbones.

The combination of desire and alcohol had him nearly shaking in desperation. He moaned Lotor’s name in frustration as he left yet another purple bruise against Matt’s pale skin. Lotor didn’t bother lifting his head, instead working his way down Matt’s chest as he reached for the small tube he’d dropped somewhere to his right. Matt’s heart threatened to beat out of his chest as he heard the faint click of the cap.

What felt like an eternity later, a slicked finger worked its way gently inside the already slightly softened muscle. Matt swallowed hard and tried to force himself to breathe steadily as another quickly joined it. The slight ache and burn as Lotor spread his fingers apart were quickly eclipsed by a blinding pleasure as Lotor’s other hand finally wrapped around him.

He worked Matt open with his fingers as thoroughly as he had with his tongue and relished the noises he was able to draw from the kiss-bruised lips. “Please,” Matt breathed out, voice wrecked from the prolonged sweet torture. Lotor leaned down and kissed him hard as he pulled his fingers out as gently as he could.

Matt shuddered again in the suddenly chilly air for the brief moment Lotor spent preparing himself. He wrapped Matt’s legs around his waist again before sliding inside with a breathy groan. Matt grabbed at his shoulders frantically, bucking his hips wildly without rhythm as he tried to coax Lotor into movement. He leaned down close to Matt’s ear again and nosed at the sweat-slicked hair on the side of his head. “Now is when I’ll be showing off.” He licked slowly around the outside edge before placing a kiss to Matt’s temple.

He proved that his threat was far from empty as he began to hammer into Matt at a back-breaking pace. Matt’s already raw throat felt like it was splitting open as he swore and moaned in turns. “Louder,” Lotor demanded, voice strained. Matt gripped his shoulders hard and cried out freely. The passionate clamor spurred Lotor on even faster.

It could have been minutes or days later, Matt could hardly tell which, when the friction between them finally tore his release from his aching body. He clenched hard around Lotor as he came. Lotor hardly lasted a few more thrusts before he was groaning hard and pressing desperate lips to Matt’s chin. He pulled out with groan from both of them and collapsed into a heap. The only sound in the entire apartment was their labored breathing.

Lust sated, the reality of the situation dawned on him and Matt couldn’t help but laugh. Lotor opened a weary eye and frowned. “I’m trying to decide if I should be offended or not.” He mused as pushed the hair out of his eyes. Matt laughed again.

“No, definitely not. It’s just,” He paused for a moment and took in a sorely needed deep breath of air. “I don’t usually do this kind of thing.” He gestured vaguely between them.

Lotor smirked and bumped Matt’s cheek with his nose before placing a soft kiss there. He smiled as Matt’s eyes started to droop. “Well I’m certainly glad you decided to make an exception for me.”

Matt smiled. “Me too,” He murmured out with a yawn. His eyes finally shut completely and his breath came in deep, even drags. Lotor smiled at his sleeping form before heading to the bathroom to clean himself up. He returned with a washcloth and did his best to clean Matt off as well. Matt murmured a little under his breath but otherwise hardly stirred under Lotor’s attention.

Lotor tossed the damp and now quite messy cloth in the general direction of his hamper before he gently coaxed Matt further up the bed to rest underneath the covers. He climbed in next to him and scooped the much smaller man into his arms. Pressing a soft kiss to Matt’s forehead, he closed his heavy eyes and fell into a deep sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

Soft sunlight on his face and a warm hand gliding up and down his back woke Matt up the next morning. He hadn’t had nearly enough alcohol to not remember a moment of the whirlwind he’d found himself swept up in the night before, but he’d had more than enough for a deep, throbbing headache and an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He peeled open his tired eyes, regretting once again that he’d fallen asleep with his contacts in. The soft smile that greeted him made his heart skip. 

The hand on his back moved to push sleep-mussed hair from his eyes. “Good morning.” Lotor’s silky voice rumbled from next to him. 

He returned the greeting and the smile with a shy one of his own before a wave of regret filled him. “What time is it, by the way?” He asked, squeezing his eyes shut in fear of the answer. 

Lotor hummed a little as he turned to retrieve his phone from the other side of the bed. “Just after 7. Should I be jealous that you’re so eager to leave?” 

Matt laughed a little in surprise, maybe he wasn’t completely screwed after all. “No way, you haven’t seen my professor.” He cracked an eye open and looked over at Lotor with a wide smile. “He looks like he sucks at making polyjuice potions and ended up with a mix between Danny DeVito and a weasel.” 

Lotor laughed and ducked down to press a soft kiss to Matt’s forehead. “Well I suspect his house won’t be winning any cups then.” Matt shook his head and laughed harder. Lotor frowned at his expression. “Don’t act all surprised. I love those books and I refuse to feel ashamed for it.” 

Matt closed the gap between them and got lost in the slow, leisurely slid of their lips and tongues even though the combination of sugary drinks and open-mouthed panting for half the night made him feel like he’d gone a few decades without brushing his teeth. As his still tired body started to respond, he threw a leg over Lotor’s hip but was stilled in his movements by a large hand over his knee. Lotor moved his head to kiss lazily across Matt’s jaw. “What time is your exam?” He whispered as he nipped at the skin just below Matt’s ear.

Matt groaned in frustration. “9:00.” Lotor hummed in consideration. 

He cupped Matt’s chin in his hand and spent a moment marveling at how small it was in comparison before running his thumb along Matt’s bottom lip. Matt’s bloodshot eyes drooped in a way that had nothing to do with how tired he was. “Perhaps we should move this into the shower.” He purred. 

Matt nodded, completely captivated. It took him too long to realize that Lotor had left the bed and was waiting for him on the other side of the room. Matt’s already dry mouth to turned to ash as he took in the sight of the man leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom wearing only a coy smirk.  _ What the hell am I doing?  _ He wondered idly to himself as he followed. 

The shower was more complicated than some of the deep space probes Matt had studied. There was a full panel touch screen to control the various showerheads, pulses, temperatures, and other custom user settings. Lotor hit the only profile button that was pinned to the main screen, a single number 1. Blessedly warm water shot out at various pressures from several of the spouts, but the sight in front of him was too distracting to stand in awe of the engineering for longer than a few seconds. 

Lotor was beautiful. It wasn’t a word Matt found himself saying often, but it was the only one that felt right. His somehow still immaculate hair cascaded over his shoulders as he leaned his head back into one of the streams of water. The relaxed pose of his shoulders and wide set stance combined with the soft, content smile was the picture of serenity. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to touch the smooth, dark skin of Lotor’s chest. 

His reward was immediate, and he found himself for the third time pinned in the air up against a wall with his legs around Lotor’s waist. It was quickly becoming his favorite seat. Their heads were just out of range of any of the jets, but the filthy, ravaging kiss would have been worth drowning for, in Matt’s mind at least. He didn’t have long to ponder before he was turning his head and gasping harshly against the foggy tile as Lotor snaked a hand between them and took both of them in his large grasp. 

It was an embarrassingly short tryst, something about how effortlessly Lotor had him completely at his mercy against the wall in concert with the smooth glide of his soft skin and bruising bites against his collarbone had Matt crying out all too quickly. The embarrassment didn’t last long either, as Lotor grunted out a velvety _Matthew_ only a few moments later that would be stored in the back of his mind as long as he lived. 

He gently lowered Matt back to the ground after they both had a minute to get their wits back about them. Matt closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the warm water, letting it soothe his tired, aching muscles. He sighed happily as soapy hands began massaging shampoo into his tangled, sweaty hair. 

They spent far longer than Matt usually did in the shower, running the various, lightly floral scented cleaning agents across each other’s skin with no regard for the passage of time. Matt knew he was running the risk of being late to his exam, but hearing Lotor’s deep rumbling laugh as he ran a soapy cloth along the side of his apparently ticklish ribs prevented him from being able to care in the slightest. 

They finally left the bathroom some time later, with moisture-wrinkled skin and relaxed smiles. Matt didn’t even mind that he’d be throwing on last night’s work uniform until he realized that his shirt was in tatters in the middle of the floor. He shrugged. It wouldn’t be the first time he showed up to class in a plain white t-shirt and it probably wouldn’t be the last. “Ah, yes.” Lotor said with a chuckle as he picked up the abused fabric. “I’ve already arranged for a replacement to be sent to you. I apologize for my recklessness, I got a bit carried away.” 

Matt laughed as he buttoned his slacks. “Buddy, believe me, you never need to apologize for that.” Lotor’s cheeks flushed a little as he chuckled in turn. 

He disappeared into his giant walk-in closet and returned a moment later, dressed head to toe like the consummate professional Matt was sure that he was. Matt, in contrast, with his cornucopia of obvious hickeys, bloodshot eyes, and half of a cheap suit, looked like a frat boy the morning after a semi-formal. There were worse looks, he mused. 

Lotor’s hand around his waist coaxed him forward into the living room. He hadn’t had a chance to appreciate it the evening before, thoughts decidedly elsewhere, but it was huge and well-decorated in modern patterns and steely grays contrasted by popping violet. One wall was floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. It was breathtaking. 

Lotor stole his attention away again as he walked over to the counter that divided the living room from the kitchen. “I had someone get a replacement for your damaged phone, all of your data has already been transferred. I also took the liberty of adding in my own contact information, I hope that’s alright.” Matt frowned as he took the phone Lotor held towards him.

He gaped for a moment before looking up at him. “Wha...? This isn’t even supposed to be released until November! And my phone was encrypted to hell and back, how did you…?” 

Lotor’s expression was unreadable but there was a hint of coyness behind his eyes. “One of the perks of the job, I suppose.” Matt looked down at the phone again as his mind raced.

It was 7 months before the thousand some odd dollar phone was even supposed to hit the market, and there it was, Matt’s familiar lockscreen of his sister and their dog smiling back at him. “This is really expensive, I can’t…”  _ finish any sentences _ , he completed in his head sarcastically as his eyes met Lotor’s again. 

Lotor closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Matt’s in just the barest hint of a kiss. “I assure you, it’s no hardship. I damaged your property, so it’s my duty to replace it.” The words came out almost as softly as his kiss had. 

Matt licked his lips as Lotor moved his head away again. “Thank you.” He replied in an awed whisper. 

Lotor’s posture straightened. “I can drop you off at your exam, if you’d like.” The realization struck him all over again as he looked at the time. 8:13.

He bounded over to where his backpack had been leaned up against the kitchen counter and dug through it. “I have to go home first, I forgot my calculator.” He cringed to himself as he realized how froggy his voice still was speaking at a normal volume. 

Lotor nodded and held out an arm. “Shall we then?” Lotor asked. Matt slung the bag over his shoulder and looped his arm around Lotor’s. 

They took the same elevator but ended up in a very different part of the parking garage than they’d been the night before. There were rows and rows of small, private garages with high tech security systems in place. Matt frowned as he realized he still wasn’t quite sure where he was. 

“I’m glad you’re not like, an organ harvester or anything, just by the way.” He with a laugh. He didn’t dwell on how badly the night could have gone for him, it was just easier for his peace of mind that way. 

Lotor stopped abruptly and frowned. Matt looked up at him, worried he’d caused some kind of offense. Lotor sighed and looked off to his left with a put out face. “Well there go the weekend plans I was making for us.” He couldn’t keep the straight face very long as Matt started laughing at his off-color joke. They walked arm in arm up to one of the large closed doors. 

Matt looked away again as Lotor scanned his finger and punched in a code. He stared again in awe at what the sliding steel revealed. A brand new, so deep purple that it looked black except in glints of reflected light, Tesla Roadster. Matt ran the numbers in his head as he took in the custom rims and what he could see of the luxury interior: the car easily costed more than his tuition. Lotor pulled the key fob from a shelf and unlocked the car with a sharp chirp, stowaway handles releasing at the push of a button. 

He surprised Matt by following him to the passenger side and opening it for him. Matt smiled up at him in thanks as he tossed his bag inside and sat down. Lotor walked around and took the driver’s seat, pulling on his seat belt and starting the car. He leaned over and pulled Matt into another heated kiss before leaving the garage. The door slid shut automatically as soon as the car was clear. 

Matt looked down at the large navigation pane and saw that the address for his apartment complex was already set in the GPS. He looked over at Lotor suspiciously as he set the autopilot. “So… you already know where I live, huh?” 

Lotor cringed a little as he looked back at Matt. “I suppose that is a little on the creepy side, isn’t it? My… associates make it a habit of doing a background check on anyone that I spend time with.” He offered apologetically.

Heart suddenly racing, Matt swallowed hard. “Is that what we’re doing then? Spending time together?” He asked. Even he wasn’t sure what he was really asking. 

“I’d like to, if that’s alright with you.” Lotor said softly, reaching for the hand Matt was resting on the center console. 

Matt let him lace their fingers together as he considered. The whole situation was a lot to deal with as he sat in the ridiculously expensive, self-driving car, holding the hand of a man he suddenly became acutely aware that he knew almost nothing about. “Yeah.” Was his only reply. They were quiet for the rest of the drive. 

The hand in his squeezed lightly as they pulled up to the entrance of Matt’s building. Before he could move to exit, Lotor brought their joint hands up to his lips and placed another soft kiss on Matt’s knuckles. “Have lunch with me.” Lotor said abruptly.

  
It was spoken like a demand, but the look in his eyes told Matt that it was a question. “I’ll text you when I’m done with my test.” He finally answered.

Lotor smiled and pressed another kiss to his mouth before nodding. “Good luck, I’m sure you’ll do well.” Lotor replied as Matt left the car. He waited to leave until Matt unlocked the main door and turned around with an embarrassed wave. 

Matt drudged up the two flights of ill-kept stairs and prayed that Shiro had already left for work. He fumbled twice with the keys as he unlocked their apartment door and headed inside to his bedroom to change and retrieve his TI-89. He finally pulled out his dry contact lenses and slipped on his glasses after squirting what felt like half a bottle of eye drops into his neglected eyes.

Shiro was sipping coffee wordlessly and glaring at him when he came back out into the kitchen in his least dirty jeans and a fresh hoody. “Where the hell have you been? I called you like 400 times.” He gritted out. Before Matt could answer Shiro was pulling at the collar of his jacket, exposing his purple and blue neck. “Jesus, did you hook up with a bobcat?!” 

Matt groaned. “I’m honestly not sure.” He said as he stared up at the ceiling. 

Shiro worked his jaw open and closed a few times deciding on what to say. “Did you meet someone at work?” He finally chose. 

“Yeah, uh… Older guy. Super rich. Like, out of this galaxy levels of gorgeous. It was wild.” He replied with an incredulous chuckle. 

Shiro shook his head. “So that was so important you couldn’t answer me? I was worried sick, Matt. You could have been dead in a ditch in that stupid death trap of a scooter somewhere.” 

Matt groaned. “Fuck. My scooter’s still at work. I’m never gonna get to that damn test on time.” He ran his hands through his much softer than normal hair. His treasonous brain replayed some of the finer moments of his morning shower before he could shake it off and focus on his current predicament.

Shiro rolled his eyes. “I’ll drop you off, I’m using a vacation day today. Keith’s test is over at 10, I can just wait at the student center.” He still looked angry and Matt felt really bad.

“Hey, I wasn’t just ignoring you, I kind of… broke my phone. Or, he did. Stepping on it. Carrying me to his bedroom.” Matt admitted with equal parts smugness and apology. 

Shiro had to laugh. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Matt?” 

Matt laughed along with him. “Fuck if I know, but it’s been awesome so far.” He shouldered his bag again as Shiro laughed while he grabbed his helmet and keys. 

He walked quickly into the lab, out of breath, at 9:02 and if looks could kill, the intense glare that Dr. Slav hit him with when he entered would have struck him dead. Matt smiled and shrugged before grabbing his exam and sitting down in front of his oscilloscope. Dr. Slav’s lab practicals were either completely impossible, like his full written tests, or so simple that Matt always second guessed his answers and ending up making dumb errors. This one was much closer to the first type and Matt couldn’t get himself to focus. 

Three grueling hours later, Matt was the first person to turn in his answer sheet. He hadn’t gone back and reviewed a single answer. He was tired, starving, and itching to see Lotor again already. Slav’s glare followed him as he left the lab and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, when he scrolled to “L” there it was. His thumb hovered over the message button for a moment before he decided to actually call. 

It rang twice before connecting. “Matthew. Good to hear from you.” Matt swallowed hard. 

“Yeah, likewise.” He cringed. Who says that?

Lotor didn’t seem fazed. “I trust your exam went well.” Matt smiled as he dwelled on Lotor’s habit of asking questions by making statements. 

“We’ll find out next week,” He started with a laugh. “It kinda went by in a blur. I was a little distracted.” He stuffed his other hand in his pocket as he walked through the quad to the main visitor parking lot on the small campus. “But it’s over now, so if you still wanna grab lunch…” He trailed off. 

Lotor’s answer came with no hesitation. “Absolutely. I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” 

They said goodbye and Matt hung up the phone, still in a daze. He checked his missed calls and felt guilty as Shiro’s name took up several pages. His messages were no better. Arriving at the parking lot, he leaned up against a lamppost and decided to check out the rest of the phone. It had several new features that Matt had been drooling over ever since the official specs came out and he still couldn’t believe that he was the holding the device in his hand. He resisted the urge to type Lotor’s name in the search bar. Instead, he sent Shiro a text that he was going out to lunch with his new “friend” (quotes included) so that he wouldn’t worry if Matt didn’t end up coming home for a while. 

Exactly 11 minutes after they hung up, Lotor’s car pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of him. Several students stopped and openly gaped as Matt got in and they drove away. “So, how was your morning?” Matt asked, feeling awkward in the quiet vehicle. 

Lotor smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes as he laced their fingers together. “Dreadful, I’m afraid. I was woefully distracted for some reason.” He punctuated his sentence with a light squeeze of his hand.

Matt’s cheeks tinged red. It felt silly to be embarrassed by a statement like that after the night they’d had… and morning. “Can’t imagine what that might have been.” Matt replied deadpan, cheeky smile on his face. 

Lotor’s eyes finally crinkled at the corners with an actual smile at Matt’s words. “A mystery for the ages.” He retorted. “I like your glasses, by the way. They suit you.” Matt chuckled. They were big and clunky and screamed the word  _ dork  _ so loud it could wake the dead. No one would describe them as fashionable or nice. He wasn’t sure if Lotor’s comment was supposed to be making fun of him or not, but the sincerity in his voice had Matt thanking him regardless.

The silence no longer felt awkward as they drove. Lotor hadn’t engaged the autopilot and instead drove manually down a few side streets. Matt resisted the urge to ask a million questions about the car, but it was a near thing. They pulled up to a fancy cafe with outdoor seating and a valet. Matt’s eyes went wide as he looked down at what he was wearing. “I think I might be a little underdressed for this place.” He said with burning cheeks. 

Lotor looked over at him with a soft smile. “I think you look fine.” He replied. Matt shook his head with a chuckle. 

“As long as I’m not gonna get us kicked out.” He finally relented. 

Lotor flashed that dangerous smirk again. “I hardly think it’ll be a problem.” 

They stepped out and Lotor handed his key fob and $50 bill to the valet before taking Matt’s hand again. “Don’t tell me you own this place or something?” Matt said incredulously. Lotor opened his mouth to speak but Matt cut him off. “Actually, I haven’t had time to google you yet, so no spoilers.” 

Lotor laughed and said hello to the hostess. She didn’t even take his name before grabbing menus and leading them to what must have been his usual table. She eyed Matt judgmentally and he shrugged at her. “I have a wikipedia page, if that’s helpful. It’s rather thorough.” 

Matt’s eyes went wide for a moment and he had to laugh again. “Oh man, that’s the dream. Your own wikipedia page.” 

Lotor lifted an eyebrow with a sarcastic smile. “You can just make your own page, you know.” He said as he lifted the menu in front of him.

Matt scoffed. “Yeah, but it’s way cooler when someone else makes one for you.” 

Lotor admitted that he was right with a laugh as they both perused the menu. Matt noted that the prices weren’t listed. And also, half of the menu was French and the other half was English words that he still didn’t know. “So, what do you usually get?” Matt asked, discomfort clear on his face.

The waitress came back by before he could answer, so Lotor ordered for both of them in smooth lilting French that had Matt pulling on the collar of his hoodie, suddenly too warm for the breezy spring day. Lotor smirked at Matt’s sudden flush and reached across the table to hold his hand. Matt smiled back at him and licked his lips. “I hope you don’t mind.” Lotor said after a minute, shrugging a shoulder to where the waitress had been a moment before. 

Matt looked down at their hands. “Not at all, I uh…” He laughed and cleared his throat. “I think I know more Klingon than French so it’s probably for the best.” He was embarrassed at how true the admission was. 

Lotor’s grin widened at Matt’s embarrassment. He leaned across the table and Matt followed his lead until their heads were ducked down close together. “vISov HIja'.” He whispered in a sultry voice into Matt’s ear.

Matt pulled back like he’d been burned. “No! No way!” Several of the haughty patrons looked around as he made a small scene, he cringed a little and lowered his voice as Lotor laughed. “I refused to believe this is real. Ashton Kutcher is going to rappel down from a helicopter at any moment, and a bunch of people I don’t know are going to jump around and high five while they all scream that I’ve been Punked.” 

Lotor threw back his head and laughed until his shoulders shook. Several people were staring in disgust. Matt was staring in unabashed admiration. “Why is it so hard to believe that I might just also be a geek?” He asked once he could breathe properly again. The word geek sounded completely foreign coming out of his mouth. 

Matt suddenly found himself lost for words. Before he could scramble together an answer, the waitress returned with their meals. They were both some kind of fish and vegetables but Matt couldn’t tell what any of them were. They were delicious, though. 

They chatted a little as they ate and Matt found out that Lotor was an  _ incredible nerd _ . He couldn’t believe how fast the time went by as they talked and laughed together over a meal Matt was sure it would’ve taken him a full month to afford. “I should get back to work, unfortunately.” Lotor murmured after he handed over a black credit card to the waitress. 

Matt nodded in understanding. “Thanks for lunch.” He pulled Lotor’s hand to his mouth this time, brushing a kiss over the soft skin. He hoped it was enough to display his gratitude. 

Lotor’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the display. Matt wasn’t sure how his statement could have been taken badly. “Perhaps work can wait.” Matt shuddered as he recognized the drop in Lotor’s voice. 

He adjusted his glasses and shrugged. “I’m off ‘til 6, so…” He trailed off. Lotor dragged his head impatiently towards the hostess stand but didn’t reply. He signed his name and pocketed his card quickly after she hurried over. Matt laughed and ducked under the fence as Lotor nimbly jumped it and handed his voucher to the shocked valet. As the car pulled back around, Lotor tapped his foot and waited for the young man to exit. He didn’t even consider the autopilot as he tore across town back to his apartment. 

Matt was enjoying the spectacle and was used to Keith’s driving by this point, so it hardly made him think twice. He had no idea why a kiss to the back of Lotor’s hand suddenly had him desperate to take Matt to bed, but he wasn’t complaining. The elevator doors had hardly slid shut before he was shoved up against yet another wall. He couldn’t bring himself to complain about that either. 

Lotor’s hands roved under his faded green sweatshirt and grabbed onto any bit of skin he could reach. Most of Matt’s neck was already sore from the repeated attention but he did nothing to discourage Lotor’s mouth as it left a trail across his throat. The doors dinged and signalled their arrival. 

They didn’t make it to the bedroom before Lotor had thrown his own jacket to the living room floor and followed it quickly with Matt’s. The rest of their clothes ended up in various small piles across the apartment before Matt found himself once again in Lotor’s bed, engulfed in his arms and moaning helplessly into his chest. Their lips connected sloppily as they moved together. 

“Say my name. I want to hear it.” Lotor growled out before biting hard at Matt’s already bruised bottom lip. Matt all but screamed his name as he fell apart in Lotor’s hand. He was rewarded with another broken  _ Matthew _ that might have almost been better than the first. 

Lotor held him close and pressed soft kisses to the top of his head as they caught their breath together. They had a much shorter shower together than the one they’d shared in the morning and Matt drifted off to sleep again in his arms. 

He awoke a few hours later to low, agitated murmurings from the living room. “The boy’s a distraction, Lotor. You don’t need this right now.” A familiar voice hissed. 

An even more familiar voice replied. “He’s not a distraction, Acxa.” Matt smiled at the words, but it was short lived. “He’s an alibi. This is a game of chess that I intend to win and I’m already three steps ahead. Try to keep up.” Matt’s heart sank at the harsh words. Brushing aside his hurt feelings, his mind raced as he considered the obvious implication. Innocent people weren’t typically very worried about alibis. 

He almost missed Acxa’s quiet reply. “If you say so, sir.” Maybe Lotor was lying to her? But why? She didn’t seem to dispute the fact that Lotor could need a cover for something. 

“I do. Now get out of here before he wakes up.” Lotor’s angry whisper followed. Matt heard them head to the door. “Acxa…” He started as Matt heard the front door open, much more softly this time. “Thank you, for being concerned. I’m confident that I can handle the situation.” 

Matt couldn’t see them, but he figured Acxa must have nodded, because Lotor padded quietly back into the bedroom and sighed as he saw Matt’s terrified and confused expression. “I suppose you heard all of that, then?” He asked with a frown. Matt nodded and pulled the sheets up a little higher around his waist. Lotor sighed. “Please let me explain.” 

  
Matt wasn’t sure he wanted him to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun 
> 
> sorry for the cliffhanger, I'm using the ability to finish chapter 3 as motivation to do my homework.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: why... are these chapters... so long...  
> also me: uuhh bro you wrote em

Lotor sighed. “Please let me explain.” 

  
Matt wasn’t sure he wanted him to. 

He reached over to grab his glasses off the nightstand and put them on so he could make out Lotor’s expression. His brows were furrowed and he was worrying his bottom lip in between his teeth. “I know how that must have sounded.” Matt let out a shaky breath. 

A whirlwind romance with an older man one thing, but getting dragged into something illegal was another. “It didn’t sound good, that’s for damn sure.” He muttered out, running a hand through his hair. It still smelled like Lotor’s shampoo. “If you tell me what’s going on,” he rubbed his face before continuing, “does that make me an accomplice to whatever shady shit you’re doing?” He couldn’t meet Lotor’s eyes. 

Lotor strode across the room and sat down next to him, leaving plenty of space between them. “No. I won’t tell you anything concrete enough to put you in danger.” He reached out a hand to rest on Matt’s shoulder, but moved it back to his own lap when Matt shrugged it off. “Or anything at all if you’d rather wash your hands of the whole thing.” His voice softened and took on a sorrowful tone. 

Matt risked a glance towards him. He was hanging his head and staring blankly at the floor. He wanted to comfort him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was just some pawn in a plot and Lotor didn't care about him at all. “This is so dumb, I met you  _ yesterday _ I don’t know why I even give a shit what you think of me.” 

Lotor’s answer came without the barest hint of hesitation. “I think the world of you.” Matt cursed under his breath as he got out of bed. 

He didn’t look at Lotor as he threw on his clothes, but finally did when he sat back down with a huff and crossed his arms. “Alright fine, tell me everything you can.” Lotor snapped his head up and smiled softly when he finally made sense of Matt’s words. Before he could start, Matt held a finger up. “I’m not promising to not run for the hills when you’re done, but I will hear you out.” He clarified. 

Lotor’s smile didn’t fade. “That’s entirely fair.” He conceded. He took a deep breath to center himself before he started. “I made a very foolish mistake and now I’m trying to dig myself out of it.” Matt looked at him expectantly. “I’m the Chief Operating Officer at Galra Technologies.” Matt squeezed his eyes shut. 

He felt like an idiot. “I guess that explains the phone then.” He murmured. 

Lotor patted his leg and this time Matt let him keep it there. “I found evidence that my father is… abusing his power as CEO and Chairman, let’s say, but it’s circumstantial at best.” He looked up at the ceiling with a frown. “I should have reported it to the board right away, but I tried to reason with him instead. Now he knows that I’m aware and is doing everything in his power to make sure I go down with him if I alert anyone.” Matt frowned. 

“Why can’t you just go to the police?” He asked, resting his hand over Lotor’s and lacing their fingers together. 

Lotor chuckled humorlessly. “Unfortunately, it would be his word against mine and I have a bit of a checkered past. I’d be the one in cuffs by the time that particular discussion was finished.” He let out a short, genuine laugh at Matt’s surprised reaction. “I was a bit of a wildcard in my misguided youth.” He admitted with a tinge of blush. 

Matt squeezed his hand briefly. “So… how exactly do I fit into all of this?” He asked quietly.

Lotor slid closer to him and tugged his hand away so he could pull Matt into his chest. “However you’d like to.” He ran his other hand through Matt’s hair and held him close. “More helpfully, I didn’t concoct the scheme of using our time together as anything but what it was until you were already asleep in my bed. The meeting I had at Arus didn’t go as well as I’d hoped it would and if my associate makes any claims of my wrongdoing, they’ll be easy to deny if I can make it look like I was there to see you all along. Especially considering that I footed the bill and it was only my name on the reservation.” Matt blinked as he took in the barrage of information. 

The alarm on his phone started ringing and he pulled it out to silence it. “I need to get to work. I gotta go home and change.” He stood up, shaking his head. 

“I can take you, if you’d like. Or arrange a car.” Lotor offered, voice unsteady. 

Matt ran his hand through his hair again. “I’m gonna call Shiro to pick me up, I need some time to think.” 

Lotor nodded but didn’t move to follow him off the bed. “Take all the time you need. I’m happy to answer any other questions you might have, when you’re free.” 

Matt wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. He wanted to believe that Lotor was telling the truth, but he just couldn’t. He made the mistake of looking back and his heart broke as he saw the pained look on Lotor’s face. With a sigh, he walked back over to the bed and took Lotor’s face into his hands. “I’ll call you when I get off work.” He said, leaning down to press their lips together gently. 

“Thank you.” Lotor all but whispered when Matt pulled back. He let his hands trail down Matt’s sides in a gesture of affection that seemed genuine. Matt leaned in and kissed his forehead, too. 

He called Shiro as soon as he got to the elevator. The conversation didn’t last long, and soon Matt was waiting for the rumbling roar of the Harley to take him away. Shiro didn’t say anything as he handed Matt a helmet and waited for him to climb on, he was just a good friend like that. Matt held onto his back tightly as they sped off towards home. 

Matt remembered as they walked in the door that he didn’t have a dress shirt, he’d meant to go get one after lunch. “Shit…” He’d look ridiculous in one of Shiro’s, but maybe he could call Lance? Shiro gave him a quizzical look at the muttered outburst. “Long story, I wrecked my work shirt. Hopefully Lance hasn’t left yet.” 

Shiro put a hand over Matt’s phone as he pulled it out. “A really scary lady came by earlier and dropped off a bunch of clothes for you. She drove off in a  _ Bentley.” _ Shiro said incredulously.  Matt swallowed hard as tears pricked his eyes. He'd forgotten that Lotor said he'd arranged for that to be taken care of. Shiro moved his hand up to Matt’s shoulder. “Matt, are you ok?” Matt shook his head and let his friend comfort him for a moment as he fought hard to keep himself from crying. This whole situation was too much. 

“I gotta get ready for work.” He muttered as he pulled away. 

Shiro gave him a sad smile. “Let me take you. I don’t want you walking wearing anything that expensive, you’ll get mugged.” Matt nodded and thanked him as he headed back into his room to put his contacts back in. He looked next to his desk where he usually kept his backpack and realized it was still sitting on the floor of Lotor’s car. He looked up at the ceiling and cursed quietly again. 

5 different designer brands of black dress shirt in slightly different cuts sat on his bed. The tags had been removed, but he could guess at the price. He chose one at random and put it on, along with his normal pants. It looked a little odd, but he was sure most people would notice the way his neck was covered in black and blue teeth marks and not the slight price mismatch between his pants and shirt. He thought about running to the corner store and picking up some makeup to try to hide it, but it would probably just end up making things look worse. He shrugged and told Shiro he was ready to leave, and they headed off together. 

Shiro wasn’t completely altruistic about it, he had Matt send Keith outside for some  _ alone time _ out behind the place before they were officially on shift. It was a small price to pay. Looking at his locker and remembering just the night before what happened in that very spot had Matt’s head reeling again.  _ So was that part real? It was before we got to his house… _ Matt thought to himself as he put his phone, wallet, and keys in the small space. It looked empty without his backpack. 

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, Lance and Hunk wolf whistled at him as Coran stared in shock. “Alright, can it, I don’t want to talk about it.” Matt groused. 

Lance laughed mockingly. “What the hell man? You can’t just walk in here like that and not spill the deets!” Lance protested. Matt just looked at him like he was an idiot and shook his head. 

Coran put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “That’s enough, go help Hunk.” He turned to Matt. “Can I talk to you for a moment, Matt?” He craned his head toward the door at the back of the kitchen that led to his small office. Matt sighed, but nodded and followed him. 

Matt tried hard to keep his voice steady once Coran shut the door. “I’m, I’m really sorry, Coran. Things got really out of hand and-” Coran held up a hand to quiet him. 

He cleared his throat and gestured towards the screen. “I was planning on adding a bonus to this week’s check considering I made you work the VIP room twice, but…” He trailed off as Matt’s eyes went wide. 

Lotor’s bill from last night alone was more than what Matt made in a month, sometimes two, and he’d left a generous tip. A very generous, 4 digit tip. Matt clapped a hand over his mouth as Coran looked up at him with a wry smile. “Considering this and,” he waved at hand at Matt’s mangled neck, “that. I think I might call in one of the weeknight folks to take your shift.” Matt sucked his bottom lip into this mouth and flinched a little at how sore it still was. Coran saw the worried look on his face and chuckled a little. “You’re not in trouble and nowhere near fired. I expect you back here next Thursday night just like always.” 

Matt cleared his throat. “You want me off tomorrow, too?” Coran gestured again at his neck and Matt sighed. The tip he’d gotten more than made up for two lost shifts, but it left him feeling a little uneasy. “Ok, yeah, that’s fair.” Coran smiled and handed him his paystub. Matt folded it and stuffed it into his pocket. “Thanks, Coran.” 

He walked back out of the kitchen and grabbed his things from his locker. He clipped the helmet onto his head and cringed as he walked outside to the familiar horror of his best friends making out. “Oh get a room!” He called out with a chuckle. Neither of them even looked up, too used to Matt’s intrusions. Keith held out his middle finger. 

Shiro finally extracted himself from Keith to look over as Matt started up his scooter. “What happened to working?” He asked.

Matt sighed. “Apparently being covered in hickeys is too unprofessional, so I’m off until next weekend.” Keith started laughing but stopped after a gentle elbow from Shiro. 

“You ok?” He asked.

Matt looked away. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He shot them a friendly wave as he zipped by.

The ride took a little longer than usual with the evening rush hour traffic, but the weather was still beautiful and Matt had a lot on his mind. The fresh air helped him calm down and think. Lotor had seemed so sincere before, but hearing him talk to Acxa… He wished he had been able to see Lotor’s face as he spoke.  _ Because you know him so well after not even a whole day _ he grumbled to himself. His phone vibrated in his pocket. 

He pulled over onto the sidewalk and looked at the screen, worried that Coran might not have been able to find someone to take his shift. It was his mother. He sighed and answered it. “Hey mom, I’m on the way home from work, can I call you back in 10 minutes?” He waited for her to say “of course,” like she always did, before he said goodbye and put it back in his pocket. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her, he was just really looking forward to some alone time to stop and think things through.

When he got back to his apartment building, two familiar faces were waiting by the door to his building. He gulped as he approached. “Ladies.” He greeted with an easy smile. “What brings you here this evening?” He tried for nonchalant. The smaller one smiled back. It was nowhere near friendly. 

“Look kid, you’re cute, you really are.” She said, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “But a little birdy told me that you hurt my friend’s feelings and I don’t like that.” 

Matt scoffed. “Did Lotor send you?” He asked, trying to shake out of her grip, but she held him firm. If Lotor was messed up enough to send his hired thugs after him, Matt was ready to call him back just to tell Lotor to lose his number.

“Nope. Acxa called us all sad after she got off the phone with him. Mentioned you guys had a fight.” Ezor said, digging into his shoulder with her impressively strong, bony fingers. 

Zethrid pushed off from where she’d been leaning against the wall. “Yeah. We don’t like it when either of them are pissed off and you managed a two for one special.” 

Matt swallowed hard. Maybe they really were just Lotor’s friends and worried about him? He had seemed pretty upset when Matt left. But it had hardly been an hour… he shook his head. “Listen, we had a… a minor disagreement. I was supposed to work tonight and that’s the only reason I left. I’m gonna call him as soon as I take care of a couple of personal things and we’ve both had time to cool off.” He explained, holding his hands up. 

Ezor hummed as she let go. “See, was that so hard?” She said with a giggle. “Glad you could be so agreeable, Matty-poo.” She pinched his cheek. Zethrid crossed her arms and frowned at him. 

“Right. I’m just gonna...” He hooked a thumb towards the door and shook his head as he made his way up the stairs. He tried not to be upset at Lotor for what his friends did, but it made him wonder how safe he’d be if he kept seeing Lotor. What if they got into an actual fight somewhere down the line?

He sighed as he flopped onto his bed on top of the four expensive shirts still laid out there. He’d have to iron them if he didn’t get up soon but he couldn’t make himself care. Ignoring his own personal disaster in favor of calling his mom back, he took out his phone. She answered on the first ring. “Hi sweetie!” Her cheerful voice greeted over the phone. 

Matt smiled. His mom was great. He wished he could talk to her about everything, but he knew he should keep what Lotor said just between the two of them. “Hey mom, what’s up?” He replied.

He heard his dad and sister in the background clanging around the kitchen together and suddenly felt very homesick. “Did you get an internship with Galra Technologies or something?” Matt’s breath caught in his throat.

_ So much for avoiding talking about Lotor _ he thought bitterly. “No, why?” He hoped his voice didn’t sound as grouchy as he felt. 

His mom hummed a little on the other end. “Well I saw you on the internet with that guy, so I just figured it was an interview or something.” Matt’s blood went cold. There was silence on her end for a long moment. “Matty, you still there?”

Matt let out a long breath. “Uh… yeah. Yeah I'm here. Where did you see me online? With who?" He asked frantically.

“Some garbage tabloid blog that your sister follows. And you were with their big tech guy, outside, eating?” Matt’s pulse thrummed in his throat. He couldn't make his mouth move. His end of the line stayed quiet for far too long and his mother knew him well. "Oh my god, Matthew are you dating him? How old is he?" She asked. He could picture her standing in the hallway, frowning, with her hand on her hip.

He tried to keep his voice steady. “Uhh maybe? I… don’t know. We just met. I don't know how old he is either.” He still hadn’t had a free minute to pull of the wikipedia page, everything had happened too fast. He didn't like the idea that Lotor might have actual paparazzi following him for pictures. Unless maybe it was a random fan of the company? It was a giant corporation, so it drew a wide following. Matt groaned as he felt a headache coming on. 

His mom hummed a little in displeasure. “I don’t like it, Matt. You take care of yourself, alright?” He sighed again and agreed. They talked for a few more minutes about her work, Matt’s schoolwork, their various family and friends, and finally said their goodbyes and hung up. 

Matt heard Shiro milling about in their living room and got up to lock his door. If he had to speak to another human in the next hour he was going to scream. He tossed the shirts into a pile in his closet and laid back down. Sitting and just breathing deeply for a few minutes, he stared at the ceiling. It was nice to finally have a second to himself.

He pulled his phone back out once he was calmer and finally went to see what he could find about Lotor online. His mother’s comments about Lotor’s age had him curious. Not that it mattered much to him, it would just be nice to know what he was getting into, if he decided he was getting into anything.

43 years old, according to Google’s preview. Matt quickly did the math in his head. He’d only just turned 26 so they didn’t quite meet the “half plus 7” rule, but Matt hardly cared. He would’ve clocked Lotor as mid 30’s at the oldest, but good for him, Matt thought. 

He couldn’t find the blog his mom had mentioned, so he hoped it was one of the goofy tinfoil hat type of things his sister was into or just some random tech geek. There were a lot of speeches, charity events, technical talks, all sorts of things out there about Lotor, but nothing on his personal life. Matt wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. On the one hand, he probably wouldn’t be paraded around like a trophy at least, but on the other, it didn’t really leave him any better off than he started as far as information went.

If he wanted to know something, he guessed he was going to have to hear it right from the horse’s mouth. He scrolled to Lotor’s contact and started a new text thread with him. “I’m home. Can you come get me?” He hit send and then rested the phone on his chest as he stared up again. 

Lotor hadn’t given him any reason not to trust him so far, so he figured he’d give him the benefit of the doubt. They’d definitely have to talk about his crazy protective friends, though. He brought a hand up to his sore neck. The love bites would have to be another talk. He couldn’t afford to miss many more shifts because he didn’t look presentable. The phone vibrated quietly and he checked for Lotor’s response. “15 mins” 

The abbreviation struck him as odd. He wondered idly if Lotor used emojis or not as he got up and changed. The thought made him chuckle. He dug through his closet for a clean jacket. 

Would it be too presumptuous to pack an overnight bag? He decided against it as he took his contacts out again, he was pretty sure he’d end up spending the night and he’d already fallen asleep in them enough recently. He walked back out into the living room where Shiro was sprawled on the couch with a book. “Lotor’s on his way, I’m probably gonna end up staying over.” 

Shiro gave him a concerned look but nodded. “Let me know if you need me to pick you up again.” 

  
  
Matt smiled at him. “Thanks, man.” Shiro returned his smile and went back to his book. Matt paced around for another few minutes before he got another message that just said “here”.

His pulse thrummed nervously in his throat as he walked down to Lotor’s car. He’d pulled up to the curb right in front of the main door. The sun had only just set and the car looked black as midnight. He climbed in with his teeth clenched. “Hey.” He greeted quietly as he buckled his seatbelt, he took a moment before actually looking over at Lotor.

Lotor leaned in and pressed their lips together again. It had only been a few hours, but Matt sighed and melted into the kiss. If it meant he got to look forward to things like that with any regularity, he found it hard to be worried about being some kind of elaborate corporate decoy. Maybe it was worth it. Lotor pulled back to rest his forehead on Matt’s. “Thank you.” He whispered. 

“Don’t thank me yet. We still need to talk about some stuff.” Matt answered. 

Lotor brushed their noses together lightly before answering. “Of course.” He leaned back into his own seat and hit the autopilot to take them back to his apartment. He risked brushing the backs of his fingers against Matt’s. Matt took pity on him and grabbed his hand. One corner of Lotor’s mouth ticked up in a half smile in response. Matt leaned his head back and sighed. Despite the couple of hours he’d spent napping in the afternoon, he was exhausted from the long day. He almost fell asleep on the short drive. 

He left his backpack in the car again, hoping he wouldn’t need to make quite as dramatic an exit this time as he followed Lotor to the elevator. They stepped inside Lotor’s apartment and Matt found himself a little disappointed that Lotor hadn’t made a move to push him against anything, instead he walked into the kitchen and came back with two full glasses. 

He handed one to Matt with a soft smile. “I thought it might be nice to talk over a bottle of wine.” Matt took a sip and tried not to grimace. He wasn’t really a wine guy. 

Matt looked into the dark red liquid and frowned. He knew they should talk. There were a lot of boundaries to discuss and questions Matt wanted answered. His head was throbbing from all the mental gymnastics he'd been doing all day. “What if I don’t wanna talk right now?” He asked, hoping Lotor understood his meaning. 

Lotor took the glass back and set both of them on the counter before brushing a hand over Matt’s cheek. “Our voices will still work in the morning, I presume.” The coy smirk that had been plaguing Matt’s thoughts all day made another appearance.

Matt shot his own smirk back. “That sounds like quitter talk.” He answered. Lotor chuckled and took his hand, leading him to the bedroom. 

Matt didn’t waste any time pulling off his shoes and jacket, tossing them in a pile by the door. Lotor gave him a curious look. “Something’s different about this.” He stated with a raised eyebrow in Matt's direction. 

Pulling off his shirt, Matt shrugged. “Sit on the bed.” He said instead of responding. Lotor laughed quietly, but did as he was told. 

“I have to warn you, I’m not much for being ordered around.” He uncrossed his arms as Matt moved to stand in between his spread legs at the edge of the bed. 

Matt placed a sloppy kiss on the side of Lotor's lips before he leaned down for the zipper on Lotor’s slacks. “That’s fine, I’m done talking for a while.” He sank down to his knees. Lotor gasped and gripped Matt’s unruly hair tightly in one of his hands as, true to his word, his mouth quickly became occupied with something other than speaking. 

He tried not to gag as he took Lotor deep into his throat. He moaned around his full mouth and started to bob his head back and forth, hollowing his cheeks and sliding his tongue up and around in a brutal rhythm that had Lotor’s grip tightening in his hair. Lotor was able to restrain himself from making all but the shallowest of movements of his hips, but his skin was starting to break out in a fine sheen of sweat from the effort. Matt was determined to make him fall apart. 

His hard work was nearly reward only a few short moments later, thankfully for his aching neck, when Lotor abruptly yanked Matt’s hair back with a strangled gasp. Matt closed his eyes in anticipation of his face being coated. He frowned up at Lotor when he realized it wasn’t going to happen. Lotor stood and shedded the rest of his clothes, nodding at Matt to do so as well. Matt let out a quiet growl of frustration but finished undressing. 

Lotor pulled him down onto the bed and they tangled together like it was something familiar, something they’d done dozens of times, instead of only a handful over the course of barely an entire day. Matt cherished the smooth glide of Lotor’s lips across his and the slide of his tongue along the roof of Lotor’s mouth. He let himself get lost in the sensations of heated skin and bruising kisses and sharp nails down his sides. 

He came back to his senses as Lotor moved his head away, chuckling as Matt tried to follow. “Is everything alright?” He asked, voice a little raspy, as he brushed Matt’s hair to the side. Matt couldn’t make out the finer details of Lotor’s expression with his glasses long since tossed to the side. 

“I don’t know.” Matt admitted with an audible exhale. 

Lotor sat up and looked down at him with an unreadable expression. “We don’t have to do this if you-” 

Matt cut him off with a groan of frustration. “I have too much going on in my head right now. You dropped a pretty big bombshell earlier, in case you forgot.” He gritted out. 

Thoroughly chastised, Lotor leaned back down to pressed a soft kiss to Matt’s lips. “I’m sorry.” He said quietly and kissed him again. “How can I help?” 

The sincerity in his voice made Matt’s chest ache. “Lay on your back.” Matt answered. Lotor cocked an eyebrow but followed his gentle instruction. He crawled on top of Lotor and grabbed the bottle that was still laying on the bed from the afternoon’s activities. Matt made quick work of preparing himself and let out a slight hiss at the stretch as he eased himself slowly down. 

Lotor tried to pull him down but Matt planted his hands into the middle of his chest. Finally accepting that it was Matt’s show this time, he slid his hands down to rest on the narrow hips that straddled him. 

Matt cried out as he rocked his hips, feeling his thighs burn at his chosen pace. He locked eyes with Lotor and moved his hands to wrap around Lotor’s forearms for balance as he shook the bed with his movements. He let his mouth hang open as nonsense poured from his lips. Lotor’s hands dug hard into his hips as he moved. Matt almost hoped they left finger-shaped bruises in their wake. 

Brain still sprinting at a thousand miles a minute, he dragged one of Lotor’s hands up his body and slipped two fingers into his mouth for the distraction. He groaned around them as a thin line of drool slid down the side of his mouth. Lotor let out a shaky gasp as Matt hollowed his cheeks again. He tried to move his other hand to wrap around Matt as he rode mercilessly, but Matt batted it away and took himself in hand instead. The visual alone was nearly too much for him to handle.

Lotor gritted his teeth as he could only watch helplessly while Matt moved on top of him. Being to feel a bit desperate, he pulled the fingers out of Matt’s mouth and returned both of his hands to Matt’s hips. He thrusted up hard and fast, throwing Matt completely off balance and sending him careening forward into Lotor’s chest. He let Lotor take the reins for the home stretch as he peppered his own love bites into Lotor’s flushed and salty skin. Before long they were both crying out only seconds apart, each other’s names shouted into the empty apartment. 

Matt didn't bother moving off of Lotor's chest. His mind was finally quiet for the first time in hours and he intended to savor it. Soft hands rubbed up and down Matt's back in a gentle rhythm. “We should probably clean up.” Lotor's soft whisper snapped him out of his daze a short time later. 

He dragged himself a little farther up Lotor's chest and pressed a sweet kiss that earned him a hum of approval into his mouth. “That also sounds like quitter talk.” Matt teased. Lotor chuckled and shook his head.

“A compromise then?” He asked, running his hand through Matt's hair. Matt nuzzled into it and nodded. “We'll run a bath, see where things go.” He proposed.

Matt smiled and nodded. He sat back up on his knees and stretched, moaning quietly as Lotor's hands ran up his stomach and chest. He patted Matt's leg to coax him into moving. 

Matt hadn't noticed the large jacuzzi style tub the last time he'd been in the bathroom, but he had a bad habit of not noticing a lot of things when Lotor was around. Now that he had a chance to look around with a clearer head, he noticed much more. He saw the large, two person vanity across from the tub and smiled as he noticed one side was completely barren.  _ At least he probably isn’t secretly married with 4 kids  _ Matt thought to himself with a smile. Only one set of dim lights was on and they made long shadows across the enormous space. Lotor took his hand and kissed his knuckles again, gesturing to the warm soapy water that was now filling the tub. Matt smiled and climbed in.

Lotor settled in behind him and pulled Matt flush against his chest before placing open-mouthed kisses across his neck. Matt hummed in approval before speaking. “We need to make a below-the-collar rule if you’re gonna keep being part vampire.” He said with a contented laugh as Lotor worked his way across Matt’s shoulder with his mouth. 

He felt Lotor’s smile against his skin. “That seems reasonable.” He agreed as he nipped lightly. 

Matt laughed again as Lotor lifted his head up and rubbed their cheeks together before kissing the side of his nose. He sighed as the rich floral scent of the soap and the steamy water helped him relax against Lotor’s chest. “I guess…” He started as he closed his eyes. “I guess it doesn’t matter, whatever shady crap you have going on, just keep me out of it.” 

Lotor’s shoulders went rigid for a split second before relaxing again. “Of course. I never meant for you to be involved at all.” He went back to kissing a path across Matt’s neck. 

“Right.” He opened his eyes again and turned around. “Did you tell your friends to go to my apartment tonight?” He asked, searching Lotor’s face as his eyebrows furrowed.

He shook his head, obviously confused. “I only told Acxa that you’d overheard us and were upset. What happened?” Matt sighed.

He curled against Lotor’s chest and wrapped his arms around the much broader shoulders. “They were waiting for me when I got back from work.” 

Lotor shook his head harder in frustration, long hair sending droplets careening over the edge of the tub. “I’ll speak to them. They were completely out of line.” He sighed and leaned his head back. “They mean well, but sometimes they can be a bit short sighted.” 

Matt shrugged. The promise made him feel better, and Lotor seemed sincere.  _ Maybe I’m just overthinking this?  _ He wondered to himself as he tried to relax again. Lotor’s soothing hand roving up and down his back helped. “What are you doin’ tomorrow?” Matt murmured against his chest. 

Lotor hummed in thought. “I usually work on Saturdays, but I suppose the company won’t crash and burn around me if I take a full weekend for once. Did you have something in mind?” 

Matt sat up and looked at him hopefully. “Pizza, movie marathon, not getting off the couch for a solid 18 hours?” 

Lotor smiled. “That sounds lovely.” He pulled Matt in for another kiss before looking at the panel that controlled the tub. “7:30’s a bit early for bed, perhaps we should get started on that tonight?” Matt laughed and kissed him again. 

“Sounds good to me.” He replied with a fond smile. 


	4. Chapter 4

Matt had been keeping a pretty tight lid on drooling over Lotor in his bespoke suits with their crisp lines and wide shoulders. He was used to fancy politicians and small screen actors and various other people with more dollars than sense coming into Coran’s fine dining establishment over the past 2 years, so he had plenty of experience keeping his thirst at bay around attractive men. The way Lotor looked when he walked out of his closet after their bath had Matt’s jaw hitting the floor, though.

His long, silky hair was pulled back into a messy bun at the nape of his neck and he was wearing a soft, gray hooded sweatshirt with the N7 logo in the middle. His sweatpants were a deep violet with the lavender lettering _Galra Technologies_ cascading down his long legs. He looked at Matt’s open stare with a shy smile and blush coloring his cheeks. “What?” He asked, fiddling with the too long sleeves his wrists and most of his fingers disappeared into.

Matt closed his mouth and ran his hand down his face. “Nothing, sorry. That’s just…” He shook his head a little as he smiled and met Lotor’s eyes. “That’s a really good look on you.” Lotor laughed a shy, embarrassed laugh under his breath as he walked over to grab Matt’s hand.

Matt let himself be led to the giant leather sectional in the middle of the living room and gaped at the faux-stone wall across from it. Two of the three cutouts in the wall housed a video game and blu-ray collection that put Matt and Pidge to shame, and their entire basement was filled with nothing but games and gaming accessories. The third cutout was filled with a gigantic, curved, 4K UHD TV that had Matt nearly drooling again. Lotor watched him gape with a sly smile on his face. “I thought you might like that.” He said with another quiet chuckle.

Lotor walked over and slid a panel that Matt hadn’t noticed farther away from the TV and grabbed an xbox controller off of a recharge station that had at least a dozen controllers for various consoles. “It slides all the way to the middle of the wall so I can pretend to be a real adult whenever anyone from work comes over.” He said with a grin, sliding the panel back and forth to show Matt. “When they connect they make a fake fireplace.”

That had Matt laughing out loud. “You go through a lot of effort to make sure nobody knows you’re a massive nerd, huh?” Lotor sat down and pushed Matt’s face into the cushions with an affronted gasp.

He dodged the large hand trying to push him further onto the couch and crawled into Lotor’s lap. The roughhousing stopped as Matt pressed their lips together unhurriedly, just savoring the contact between them. Lotor’s hands wrapped around his small waist and Matt couldn’t help but chuckle as he realized Lotor’s fingers almost touched in the middle of his back. Lotor pulled away and raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh…” Matt blushed. “You have really big hands?”

Lotor snapped his mouth shut and blushed as well. “I… have no idea how to respond to that, so I won’t.” Matt gave him an incredulous look.

“Are you kidding me? You were ready to bend me over a couch _at work_ but saying you have big hands is too embarrassing?” Matt started laughing even harder at Lotor’s shocked expression.

He sputtered for a moment. “First of all,” He started, shaking his head a little as he spoke for emphasis. “We were drunk, so that was a bit of a different situation.”

Matt stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth and rolled his eyes. “Yeah ok, and secondly you’re a big dork.” He squawked as Lotor flipped them over and pushed him back down onto the cushions, towering over him.

“You know what?” He asked, feigning indignation. Matt looked up at him with a smirk. “You’ve brought this on yourself. You deserve this.” He said with deadly seriousness as he held Matt firmly to the couch and slowly lowered his head. Matt’s eyes went wide with realization and he started thrashing when Lotor stuck out his tongue. He licked a wide stripe from Matt’s chin up to his eyebrow. “Are you going to stop being a brat?” Lotor asked from a scant few inches above Matt’s face.

He shook his head. “Absolutely not.” Lotor laughed and pressed a hard kiss to his lips.

He sat back up and smiled fondly. “Hmm, it appears you can't be swayed by petty intimidation tactics. I'll have to come up with something else.” Matt smiled back and settled in next to him, head leaning against the soft material on his chest. He wiped his wet cheek against it, drawing a short laugh from the man underneath him. Lotor ran his hands through Matt's still drying hair. “What’s your favorite place for pizza?” He murmured into the damp strands as he placed a kiss to the top of Matt’s head.

Matt hummed in consideration. “Donnie’s on 3rd and main. But they don’t deliver and I don’t wanna go out.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Lotor said as he pulled his phone from the center pocket of his hoodie. “What do you like? And don’t say pineapples or I’ll have you escorted out.”

Matt laughed. “Are you really gonna make some poor intern go get you pizza at 8pm on a Friday?”

Lotor shrugged. “I have a drove of personal assistants who fight each other tooth and nail over who’s going to get my coffee in the morning. They’re well compensated.” He replied in a bored tone.

Matt shook his head. He and Shiro fought over who had to scoop out week old coffee grounds from their ancient Mr. Coffee Pot every few days if either of them wanted fresh coffee in the morning. “Pepperoni, I guess. Since you wanna be like that about it.” Lotor knocked his chin into Matt’s forehead lightly as he tapped at his phone.

Lotor put his phone on the coffee table and grabbed the controller again, scrolling through his impressive library of movies and TV shows. “Oh, Pacific Rim!” Matt said with a grin as it appeared on the bottom of the list.

They snuggled together through the opening 30 minutes, talking and laughing about some of the more creative licensing the movie took in regards to science and engineering before a door chime announced the arrival of their dinner. Lotor paused the movie and walked over to answer it, Matt didn’t even try to be subtle in his admiration as he watched.

He opened the door with a blank expression and took the box from the exceptionally average looking man on the other side. “Is there anything else I can get for you, sir?” He said eagerly. Matt cringed. He hoped that wasn’t what he always sounded like at work.

“That’s all Mr. Jones, thank you.” Lotor said with a friendly smile. The man smiled back and then furrowed his brows when he saw Matt on the couch. “Good evening.” Lotor finished, dropping the smile and shutting the door before the man could comment or stare anymore.

Matt smiled as Lotor dumped the box on the coffee table and grabbed a slice, not bothering with a plate. He grabbed his own piece and happily munched away as Lotor restarted the movie and sat back down next to him. It was a little surreal to sit and eat greasy takeaway with someone who was usually so prim and proper, but soon they were arguing over what the hell the movie could have meant by calling the giant robot “analog” for Matt to muse on it any longer.

Pizza demolished and credits rolling, Lotor stood and stretched with a loud yawn. Matt couldn’t resist the urge to poke gently at the sliver of skin exposed by the movement, and was rewarded with the most hilarious and indignant screech he’d ever heard in his entire life. Lotor immediately brought his hand down to swat the attacker away. Matt almost fell off the couch laughing. “Oh my god, you’re ticklish aren’t you? Like, suuuper ticklish?” He asked once he’d caught his breath.

“No, that’s absurd.” Lotor stammered out, too quickly. He was going for authoritative and direct, but his tone landed somewhere between _definitely lying_ and _terrified_.

Matt stood up and walked towards him. Lotor took a cautious step back. “Ok, ok. You’re not ticklish. I believe you.” He couldn’t manage to keep the evil grin from his face.

Lotor narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but let Matt approach, standing on his tiptoes to reach up for a kiss. The palms that been resting on his chest slowly moved down to his sides and Lotor knew he’d already lost. Matt dug his fingers in mercilessly and Lotor squirmed, trying to wriggle out of Matt’s grasp and hold his laughter at bay. He succeeded in neither arena.

They ended up in a heap on the living room floor, laughing and wrestling like children. Lotor finally managed to get his wits about him enough to pin Matt to the floor by his wrists so he could catch his breath. “Wipe that smirk off your face, you’re not that funny.” He muttered, trying to keep himself from smiling.

“Why don’t you wipe it off for me?” Matt replied, grinning even wider. Lotor wasted no time taking the bait.

He surged downward and pressed their lips together. He plundered Matt’s mouth in a messy kiss that had him panting and seeing stars as Lotor pulled away only far enough to drag his teeth across Matt’s bottom lip. Matt stared up at him, completely dazed, as Lotor let out a quiet laugh. “Well at least I’m 1 for 3 tonight.”

Matt blinked a few times before letting out an articulate, “uuhhhh,” and swallowing hard. “Yeah, I think I forgot how to speak English, actually.” He said as he shook his head.

Lotor laughed again as he stood, pulling the elastic band out of his hair and shaking it loose. Matt gaped up at him in flagrant desire. The small, shy smile made its return. “Well come on, then.” He lowered a hand and helped Matt to his feet.

They both pulled off their sweatshirts and tossed them to the floor before climbing back into the already rumpled sheets. The slow slide of their mouths against each other as they took their time undressing bit by bit set an easy, relaxed pace. Still loose from their earlier, much more heated antics, Matt sighed in contentment as Lotor effortlessly slid his fingers inside one at time until he was a keening puddle in Lotor’s arms.

When they finally fell together it was nothing like the previous few frantic times, or like anything Matt had experienced before. Lotor’s fingers laced with his as they pressed sweet kisses to each other’s lips. The twinkling light from the city outside of the window bathed everything in soft blues and purples and Matt fought hard against his instinct to close his eyes so he wouldn’t miss anything. He came with a quiet exhale and a shudder instead of a hard, thrashing moan. Lotor followed soon after.

His eyes drooped as he laid against Lotor’s chest, hardly needing the moment to catch his breath but enjoying the closeness. He groaned in annoyance as Lotor gently pushed him off to rest on the pillows before he got out of bed. Lotor came back a few minutes later with his sweatpants hung low on his hips and a warm washcloth to tenderly wipe away any residue from Matt’s skin. He slinked back into bed after placing it in the hamper and Matt wasted no time resuming his previous spot half on top of Lotor.

They sat in comfortable silence, not sleeping just resting contentedly in each other’s arms while Matt let his fingers run through the ends of the silken strands splayed out on the bed behind them. Lotor’s hands ran a now familiar path up and down the soft skin of Matt’s back in the dim light. “So, I guess this means you forgive me for the tickling thing?” Matt finally whispered out quietly when the silence became too much for him.

“I suppose I’ll let it slide this once.” Lotor replied, pressing his lips to Matt’s forehead.

It was quiet again, and soon they drifted off to sleep, the promise of a lazy Saturday bringing a small smile to Matt’s lips as his eyes slid shut.

..

Matt woke up alone, the quiet sounds of a piano over a speaker from somewhere outside of the bedroom rousing him from his deep sleep. He sat up and stretched, heading to the bathroom to take care of the morning’s business. When he went to wash his hands he smiled to himself at the toothbrush laying on the counter, still in its package. Lotor’s expensive, battery operated, spinning, hydro-whatever toothbrush was sitting in its stand up against the mirror so Matt knew the newcomer was for him. He didn’t know why that made him as giddy as it did while he brushed his teeth.

He tossed on his sweatpants from the night before and padded out into the living room barefoot. The source of the music was a speaker on top of the refrigerator, apparently controlled by Lotor’s phone as he skipped to the next song with the hand not currently stirring a bowl filled with some kind of batter. Matt walked quietly up behind him and wrapped his arms around Lotor’s hips, placing a kiss between his shoulders. Lotor hummed happily as he stirred. “I was rather hoping you’d be asleep for about twenty more minutes.”

He nuzzled his face into Lotor’s back, earning him a quiet chuckle. “Bed was cold.” He grumbled sleepily.

Lotor set his bowl down and turned, stealing a kiss as he slung his arms around Matt’s shoulders. “Well if you’ll give me a bit longer we can warm it back up again while we have breakfast.” Matt snuggled deeper into the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

His ears perked up as he heard a familiar melody. “Is that…the Zelda theme on piano?” He leaned back and looked up at Lotor, noting the faint blush on his cheeks.

“Guilty.” He said with an embarrassed chuckle. He handed Matt his phone and saw the Orchestral Video Game Themes channel on his radio app.

Matt laughed and tilted his chin up so Lotor would lean down and kiss him again. “Giant. Nerd.” He whispered against his lips.

Lotor shook his head with a wide grin. “Tiny. Brat.” He countered, kissing Matt’s forehead and going back to making pancakes.

Matt busied himself cleaning up the havok from last night; he straightened the couch cushions, picked up the piles of clothes leading to the bedroom, and made the bed as well as he could. By the time he was done, Lotor was in the doorway with a soft smile and two plates of food. He craned his head back towards the main area of the apartment. “Why don’t we eat at the table, I’d hate to ruin your hard work.”

Matt nodded and followed him to the small breakfast nook on the other side of the living room. He hadn’t noticed that before, either. The pancakes weren’t the best he’d ever had, between his mom and Hunk it was hard to impress him with cooking, but they were good and the company was better.

They washed the dishes together as they chatted about Matt’s schoolwork. Lotor loved hearing Matt’s ridiculous stories about some of the projects he’d been on. They moved to the couch again started up the reboot Star Trek series starting with 2009. “Wow, Karl Urban could _get it._ ” Matt said with a low whistle as McCoy groused at Kirk onscreen.

Lotor leaned back with a frown, jostling Matt’s head from his chest a bit. Matt was worried he’d accidentally offended him, they hadn’t exactly established a firm definition for their budding relationship, they'd hardly had the time. Maybe celebrity crushes were different when you were rich enough to actually have hopes of meeting them someday? Lotor raised a delicate eyebrow. “Really? You find him more attractive than Chris Pine?” Lotor shook his head as Matt laughed.

Lotor finally let a smile slip through as they went back to the movie. Lotor listened and laughed along as Matt prattled on, sometimes joining in, but more than happy just to listen. They made it through half of Into Darkness before Matt found himself getting restless. He turned on the couch and pressed an impatient kiss to Lotor’s mouth. His reward was a tight grip on his hip and looser one in his hair. Their hips rocked against each other lazily as they made out like teenagers, not in a hurry for things to go further any time soon.

Their tryst was interrupted by a buzzing from the coffee table as Lotor’s phone rang. He sighed as he gently pushed Matt away and answered it. “This is Lotor.” Matt couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation. He paused the long-forgotten movie.

Lotor rolled his eyes as he listened to whoever was on the other end. “I understand.” He gritted his teeth and Matt had to laugh a little under his breath at the annoyed face. “That’s none of your concern. I’ll be in tomorrow, I have prior engagements this afternoon.” He slumped back onto the couch as he stared at the ceiling, looking dreadfully bored. Matt smirked as he got up from the soft cushions. He knew just how to liven the conversation up.

Matt knelt down between Lotor’s legs, making his eyes go wide and jaw drop as he realized what Matt was about to do. He ran a hand up Lotor’s thigh, making eye contact. Lotor frantically shook his head no as Matt’s hand reached the bulge in his sweatpants. Matt let go and pouted, sticking his bottom lip out comically. Lotor smiled and bit his own lip for a moment before mouthing “Alright.”

He made quick work of sliding Lotor’s pants down to his mid-thigh. The first long, slow lick had Lotor shoving his hand in his mouth and biting down. “That won’t be necessary, I’m sure Acxa is more than capable of taking care of it.” He gritted out as Matt took him deep into his throat. Lotor did his best to steady his breathing as Matt bobbed his head. “No, everything’s fine. I just don’t appreciate the- Ah- intrusion on my day off.” It was playing dirty to hollow his cheeks hard as soon as Lotor started talking and Matt knew it. It made the game more fun. “I’ll be in tomorrow, we can finish…” He paused briefly as Matt worked his base with a hand, speeding up his mouth. “...finish this discussion in the morning.” He bit his lip again and tightened the grip he had in Matt’s hair.

Lotor moved the phone away from his head, not bothering to say goodbye as he roughly punched the end call button. He let out an exaggerated moan from the pent up feeling. “Matthew…” He breathed out. Matt figured he needed to add that to the list of things to discuss later. He didn’t want to inadvertently pop a boner every time one of his parents was mad at him, no matter how hot his full name sounded dripping from Lotor’s lips. Lotor pulled his head forward hard, almost making Matt choke with the abruptness of the milky liquid that came spilling down his throat a moment later.

Matt sat back on his heels and grinned up at Lotor, wiping his mouth and chin with the back of his hand. “Sorry, that call sounded super boring, I figured you needed the assist.”

Lotor shook his head before he sighed and leaned down, pulling Matt into a tired, sloppy kiss. “You… are going to get me in a lot of trouble.” He said with a grin.

“Ah, come on.” Matt replied with a wink.

Lotor kissed his cheek. “I’m sure it’ll be well worth it.” He placated, situating Matt back up against his chest. His hand roved up under the hem of Matt’s shirt and then lower.

Matt let out a strangled gasp as Lotor’s hand closed around him, pumping hard. “I’m… I’m gonna ruin the couch.” Matt groaned out as Lotor set a punishing pace.

His lips found Matt’s neck again, but didn’t bite down, only pressing open-mouthed kisses on the already bruised skin. “Ruin it. I’ll a buy a new one.” He murmured, nipping just a little- not hard enough to leave any more marks. It didn’t take much more after the sultry whisper to push him over the edge, spilling out over Lotor’s hand and all over the cushions below them.

Matt’s already rapidly beating heart threatened to burst out of his chest as Lotor brought his hand to his mouth, cleaning the mess with his tongue. “Fuck.” Matt breathed out, earning him a chuckle in response.

Lotor leaned a long arm over to the coffee table and grabbed one of the napkins from their pizza the previous night, cleaning off Matt’s stomach and the soiled couch. “Hardly a mess at all, I don’t know why you were worried.” Matt let out a huge puff of air as Lotor tossed the dirty paper onto the coffee table and started the movie up again.

“Really? Just like that?” Matt asked, voice a few octaves higher than normal.

Lotor laughed and nosed at his hair. “Shh… I’m trying to watch.” He chastised with a humorous lilt to his voice. Matt shook his head but kept quiet, soon getting reabsorbed into the movie.

They fell asleep wrapped up together on the couch as the sun set.


	5. Chapter 5

Matt woke up around 10, his mouth feeling like he'd swallowed a handful of sand. Lotor's hair was covering most of both of their faces and Matt almost fell over trying to get off the couch. He managed to extract himself after a brief tussle with Lotor's strong grip around his waist.

Padding as quietly as he could over to the kitchen, he opened several cabinets looking for glasses. He found the wine glasses first and shrugged as he pulled one down. It was probably actual crystal and he felt a little guilty as he brought it over to the fridge to fill with water.

He frowned as he squinted at the panel in front of him, wishing he had remembered to grab his glasses. He pressed a button that looked like a water droplet and held his glass under the spout.

For some reason a video started playing on the touch screen and the sudden loud noise had Lotor jumping in alarm off of the couch. Matt frantically hit a few more buttons as Lotor laughed at him from the living room. The lights came on, and the radio, and for some reason, the garbage disposal. “God is everything in your apartment on the IoT? This is a Bosnian botnet just waiting to happen.” He groaned in frustration.

Lotor finally took pity on him and walked over to the misbehaving appliance, shutting everything except the lights off with the push of a button. He saw the glass in Matt's hand and shook his head with another laugh, quickly replacing it with an equally as expensive-looking cup. He filled it with water and took a sip before handing it to Matt with a kiss on the cheek.

Matt finally soothed his aching throat as he watched Lotor mill about the living room, tidying up. He placed the cup in the sink and followed as Lotor smiled at him, walking into the bedroom. He turned off the lights with another panel on the wall and Matt shook his head. “I assure you, everything here is very well encrypted.” Matt yawned and stretched.

“Whatever you say.” He didn't sound like he believed it. Lotor chuckled again and followed him into the bed. “I don't know why I'm so tired. We woke up late and slept forever this afternoon.”

Lotor kissed him softly and smiled at him. “Well we're making up for the late night on Thursday.” He said with a coy tone. “And we've been getting quite a bit of exercise.” Matt smiled and buried his face into the soft sweater again.

Matt was sleep before he realized he'd closed his eyes.

He woke up again hours later to the soft press of lips against his forehead and Lotor's hair tickling his nose. He grumbled a little, still half asleep and jutted his chin up, eye still closed. He felt more than heard Lotor's quiet laugh as he complied to the wordless request for a kiss. “I'm sorry, I have to get to work soon.” Lotor murmured into his ear, placing another kiss to his temple.

Matt sat up and stretched. “No problem, I have a bunch of homework and laundry and stuff I've been ignoring all weekend anyway.” He smiled as he watched Lotor disappear into his closet and then reemerge just a few seconds later, laying a crisp suit out on the bed.

He walked around the bed and held his hands out for Matt to take. “I can spare the time for another long shower if you're interested.” He said teasingly as Matt stood.

Matt grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “Lead the way!” He answered cheerfully, suddenly wide awake at the prospect.

They headed to the bathroom and undressed quickly. Lotor pushed a few buttons and suddenly the bathroom was filling up steam from the hot water. It felt like heaven beating down on his tired muscles, he wasn't complaining by any stretch, but that weekend had involved the most physical activity at the most regular intervals he'd done in years. He moaned loudly as soapy hands dug into his tight shoulders.

Lotor took his time finding every sore inch of Matt's body, working his fingers into every one of them until Matt felt like his knees would give out. He chased his hands with watery kisses and soon had Matt’s back pressed up against the cool tiles again, their lips locked. Lotor hummed into the kiss before leaning back. “Turn around for me.” He whispered so quietly it was hard to hear over the spray.

Matt did as he asked and turned around, hands splayed out on the wall in front of him. He wasn't prepared for Lotor to drop to his knees and spread him open to the humid air. The first press of his tongue against Matt's battered and overused entrance had him tilting his head back and crying out with the pleasant surprise. He felt Lotor laugh again as he worked his mouth in slow, deliberate paths.

After several long, blissful minutes, he coaxed Matt into turning around with a gentle hand at his hip. The sight he was met with was almost too much for Matt to handle; Lotor's sharp, calculating eyes contrasting with the easy smile on his lips and the ever-elegant hair damp and swept over his shoulders. One of Matt's hands threaded through the velvet locks in a loose grip as Lotor took him into his mouth. His other hand clenched and unclenched in turns until Lotor reached up to lace their fingers together. Matt had to slam his eyes shut to keep any hope of things not ending embarrassingly fast.

Lotor bobbed his head with an unhurried rhythm, feeling Matt's distress through the staggered squeezing in their joined hands. Matt's breaths came in ragged gasps as he tried to hold on, but all too soon the effort was too much and he had to let go. Lotor took his sudden release in stride and rested his head against Matt's hip, his free hand sliding down to work rapidly at quelling his own desire. Matt caught his breath quickly and looked down, confused as to why Lotor was still kneeling until he saw exactly what he was up to.

Matt muttered a colorful expletive and moved Lotor's hair out of the way so he could watch. The sight of such a powerful man on his knees in front of him, kissing at his bruised hips reverently did things to Matt's stomach that alarmed him. He could definitely get used to this particular view.

He bit his lip as he watched, and squeezed Lotor's hand. “God, you look so good like this, angel. Come for me.” Lotor complied almost immediately, with another tantalizing moan of _Matthew_. It was too late to go back, his full name was forever ruined by that husky voice, there was no hope of salvaging it.

Matt sat down next to him as Lotor made no move to stand after a long moment. He was still breathing hard, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Matt pulled him close and rested Lotor's head on his chest. He ducked his head to place a kiss on his forehead and ran his thumb soothingly over the back of Lotor's hand. “Hey, you ok?” He asked quietly over the water still cascading around them.

Lotor let out a shaky breath and finally sat up. His eyes were red. “Yes, I'm fine.” He replied, voice hoarse. “That was… more than I was expecting.” Matt leaned forward and kissed him, unsure of what to say.

After a few minutes of letting their mouths dance along each other's they finally stood up and quickly washed. Matt lamented missing another opportunity to wash Lotor's hair. He hadn't realized how nice it felt until Lotor had done it for him in their previous shower.

Skin pruny and legs still a little shaky, they dried sedately before dressing. “Shall I take you home? Or would you like for me to call a car?” Matt had to laugh again at the prospect of just having _people_ to drive him around.

He stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and thought it over. “My backpack’s still in your car, so we have to head that way anyway.”

Lotor smiled and nodded as he finished tying his tie. He ran his hands through his hair and tossed it back over his shoulder. Matt wrinkled his nose a little. Lotor gave him a confused glare. “What?” He asked indignantly.

Matt made a dismissive noise and waved his hand. “I was just thinking,” he said, sideling up to Lotor and running his hand over the maroon silk, “it's kind of unfair that you're so gorgeous no matter what you're doing.” Lotor flushed and leaned his head down, capturing Matt's lips again. Matt laughed when he pulled back. “You're really not used to compliments are you?”

Lotor licked his lips as he considered how to answer. “Not sincere ones.” He pressed a softer kiss to Matt's mouth and headed to the door before Matt could respond.

They walked down to Lotor's car again hand in hand. It still felt a little silly, looking down between them to see his small hand eclipsed in such a large grip. It made his stomach flutter a little, too. He looked up at Lotor's face and his smile faltered. Lotor's eyes were narrow and he looked like he was thinking hard about something. Matt brought their hands up to his mouth and pressed another kiss there.

The transformation was instant. Lotor looked over with a smile that made him look 20 years younger and it took Matt's breath away. “What was that for?” He asked as they stepped out of the elevator.

Matt shrugged. “You looked a little too serious and I couldn't think of anything funny to say.” Lotor laughed and squeezed Matt's hand again. They separated long enough to get into opposite sides of the car but Matt couldn't help seeking out Lotor's hand again as soon as they were buckled in.

That early on a Sunday, there was almost no traffic. It was far too quick a drive for Matt's liking, unsure of where they stood at the end of such a roller coaster weekend, but too embarrassed to ask. Lotor pulled around to the main door and put the car in park, staring ahead and taking measured breaths. Matt felt anxiety creep up his spine.

Lotor turned to him slowly and licked lips. “I'd like to see you again. Soon preferably.” There was no blush on his cheeks or wavering to his voice, but something in his eyes told Matt that he was just as nervous.

“I'm not that busy.” Matt replied with a cheeky grin. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Lotor's mouth. “Let me know when you're free.”

Lotor let out a quiet, shaky laugh. “I will.” Matt kissed him again for good measure before getting out. He waved when he got the door unlocked and Lotor drove off.

The butterflies in his stomach made him feel giddy and he bounded up the stairs two at a time. When he got into his own apartment, Shiro was sitting on the couch watching the news, Keith's head in his lap. Shiro's prosthetic fingers were gliding through the unruly mop of hair. The tiny part of him that always used to be jealous at such sweet gestures of affection between his long time friends had fizzled out completely.

Shiro looked up at him with a smile and polite lift of his hand. He brought a finger to his lips in a “be quiet” motion before pointing down at Keith's sleeping form. He was out cold. Matt gave him a thumbs up before heading into his own room to get his laundry together.

He'd hardly been home for ten minutes when his phone buzzed in his pocket. “I miss you already.” The message was from Lotor.

Matt sat down on his bed, cheeks burning red. “I miss you too” His finger hovered over the send button for a moment in trepidation before hitting it.

They were lucky enough to live on the floor with the building’s washing machines and dryers, and Matt shoved as much dirty clothing as he could into one load before filling it with quarters. He'd “borrowed” Shiro's laundry detergent because Keith was still snoozing away on his lap and he knew Shiro wouldn't care anyway as long as he picked up the next bottle. His phone went off again and he was disappointed to see that it was a snap from his sister and not a text from Lotor.

He opened the picture and chuckled. She was wearing makeup (which she hated) and a collared shirt (which she hated even more). The caption read “please tell me you're meeting us at church” followed by a string of indecipherable emojis.

Matt pulled his hoodie down a little and sent her a picture of his slowly healing bruises. “I think mom might actually kill me if I show up like this.” He sent several skull emojis with it.

The reply was almost instantaneous and had him laughing to himself in the quiet laundry room. Pidge's horrified face with “damn” followed by the maximum allowed number of characters of exclamation points. She didn't send anything else.

He whiled away the time his clothes were washing and drying by attempting to get some studying done, but he kept checking his phone every 30 seconds for another message. Nothing came until almost 2. “Today's been dreadful. Can I meet you for lunch?”

Matt smiled down at his phone and looked over at the pile of clean clothes on his bed. He figured hanging his laundry could wait and typed out a quick reply of “sure!” He agonized over the exclamation for a moment before deciding Lotor wouldn't judge him for seeming over eager. They exchanged a few messages about where to go and eventually decided on a quiet cafe close to the pier. Matt was glad he didn't insist on another fancy upscale place.

He slipped on the trim black sweater his mom had gotten him for his birthday. Even though he'd been to that place a bunch of times in jeans and t-shirts, he didn't want to look like a bum, especially not after seeing what Lotor had worn to work that morning.

Shiro laughed at him as he left, saying how cute it was that Matt was so excited about his new boyfriend. Matt threw one of the shoes by the door in his general direction. The drive was quick and the weather was pleasant, and even though it had only been a few hours, he was excited. He saw Lotor's car already in the parking lot and pulled his scooter in beside it. Lotor gave him an odd look as he finished up a phone call.

When he finally stepped out of the car, he ruffled Matt's helmet hair and gave him a warm kiss. They exchanged pleasantries while they waited to be seated. Lotor reached over and took Matt's hand after the server took their drink orders. “There's something very important we need to discuss.”

Lotor's serious expression and even tone immediately had Matt worried. “Sure, what's up?” He tried to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

“Did you really ride here in a… a scooter?” Matt had to laugh at how offended he looked.

Lotor frowned. “Oh come on! What's wrong with my Vespa?” He asked with another laugh.

His frown deepened. “Matthew, it's a scooter.”

The word sounded ridiculous in his prim accent. Matt found it disproportionately adorable. “Say scooter again.” He murmured across the table.

Lotor rocked his head back like he'd been slapped. “Absolutely not.” He replied firmly, a smile on his face.

Matt grinned wide at him. “Ok, look. My shitty apartment complex charges $350 a month for every parking spot. I'm too scared to drive a real motorcycle, so this way Shiro and I can share.” Lotor frowned again and shook his head.

The server interrupted their silly argument to give them the drinks and take their food orders. Alone again, Lotor looked back at him. “I'm struggling deeply with the urge to buy you a car.”

He sounded so serious again that Matt had to laugh. “I like my crappy scooter, thank you very much.” He replied.

Lotor didn't answer but gave him a suspicious glance. They chatted amicably over lunch once it was brought to their table. Matt's phone buzzed in his pocket and he smiled when he saw who it was. “Hey can we take a picture together?” Matt asked, pleading smile on his face.

As a rule, Lotor took as few unscheduled pictures as possible. It wasn't due to any kind of insecurity, he was well aware of how attractive he was, but one ill timed photograph could be a PR nightmare. “What is it for?” He tried not to sound harsh when he asked.

Matt didn't notice if he did. “I skipped church with my family this morning and sent my sister a picture of my neck because she didn't buy that I was busy. Now she's harping at me for a picture of my new uh…” He gestured in between them vaguely and blushed.

Lotor didn't comment on his lack of a label, but rolled his eyes and agreed to take the picture. Matt beamed and walked around the table. The place was mostly empty, so he smirked and sat on Lotor's lap. He only blushed a little and smiled politely as Matt took the snap. Lotor watched in horror as he scrolled through the various filters. “No, no. The last thing I need is a screenshot of _that_ floating around.” He said indignantly as Matt stopped on a particular one.

Matt laughed again, making no move to get up from his spot. “But it's so cute, we look like bunnies.” He whined.

Lotor shook his head and sighed. “I don't disagree, but I have an image to maintain.”

Matt rolled his eyes and took the filter off. He hummed in thought for a moment before sending it without a caption. His phone nearly vibrated out of his hands as he was bombarded with Pidge's stream of consciousness reaction. “Daaaamn Matty!” Followed by “Get it!” “Wooooooow!” And “oh shit it's that guy!!”

Lotor raised an eyebrow at Matt's smile as he replied to her messages. “My sister thinks you're hot.” He answered without looking back.

Lotor cleared his throat. “That's… good, I suppose?”

Matt leaned down and kissed him above a furrowed eyebrow. He went back to his seat across the table and put his phone on silent. “Ok, sorry, I'm done being obnoxious. Why was your morning so bad?” He asked, taking Lotor's hand again.

The juxtaposition of Lotor's elegant suit and the red translucent plastic cup he was drinking his iced tea out of made Matt smile while Lotor slumped and groaned a little melodramatically. “Everyone I work with is a moron. I'm making Acxa CEO when I become chairman of the board and we're going to fire everyone that calls a meeting that should have been an email.”

Matt laughed so hard he had to wipe a small dribble of Coke off of his mouth. “Can't you just do that anyway? I thought the COO was the guy that did all the actual business stuff while the CEO played golf and smoked cigars.”

Lotor sighed again. “I wish that were true. My father is a bit of a… micromanager let's say.” Matt squeezed his hand. “Let's talk about something else.” Lotor suggested.

Matt looked over the rim of his glasses at him. “We could head back to your place and I can take your mind off of it.”

Lotor looked like he was in agony as he let out a breath in a huff. “I'd love nothing more, but that's part of the reason I asked you to meet me here instead offering to get you. I really can't afford to lose another afternoon.” Matt leaned down and kissed his hand again.

He was a little disappointed, but he kind of figured they'd have to draw the line somewhere. Lotor spoke again before he could think of a way to reply without coming off as needy. “I’m having the most uncharacteristic problem with self control lately. Especially where you're concerned.”

Matt smiled. “If you want me to be sorry about that, you're gonna be disappointed.”

Lotor laughed. “Let's go for a walk.” He said as he got up, tossing far too many bills on the table.

They walked out of the cafe hand in hand and set off for the pier. The ocean sparkled in the sunlight as the gentle waves lapped against the algae-covered wood. They made it to the end and Lotor leaned forlornly up against the rails. Matt leaned against his side.

“Have you ever been on a yacht?” Lotor asked suddenly.

Matt laughed a little, humorlessly. “Uh, no.”

Lotor gave him a hopeful glance. “Would you like to? More specifically, with me, this Friday night. There's a charity event that I'm being forced to go to nearly under pain of death. I think it'd be a lot more enjoyable if you were there.”

Matt looked up at the sky. “I… I'm supposed to work.” It was a lame excuse, but it was true. Being broke was rough, but feeling like a charity case or some kind of trophy to be paraded around at galas was worse.

Lotor frowned. “Call in sick.” He said with a chuckle, turning to pull Matt closer to him.

“I already lost 2 shifts this week. I'm not gonna be able to pay my rent and I already owe Shiro $100 and a bottle of laundry detergent.” He said with a red face and clenched fists.

Lotor lifted his chin up so he was forced to look him in the eye. “Luckily for both of us, I can afford laundry detergent.” He answered with a playful smile.

Matt batted his hand away. “Haha, very funny.” He groused, turning back to face the water.

“Matthew, I'm not joking.” Matt hated the perfect way his name rolled off Lotor's tongue.

He turned and gave Lotor a sarcastic look. “So, we've known each other for 3 days and you're gonna… you're gonna pay my rent and buy me clothes for your fancy yacht parties and a car because apparently scooters aren't cool?” His voice got louder as he spoke.

Lotor frowned and put his hands on Matt's shoulders. “I didn't mean to offend you. I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself.”

“Do you? How could you know that? You don't even know my middle name.” He tried hard not to shout. The voice in the back of his head told him to shut up, but he was too stubborn to listen.

Lotor stood behind him and wrapped his arms around Matt's shoulders, effectively trapping him up against the railing, but his grip wasn't tight. He rested his cheek on top of Matt's head. “It's Nikola. And your birthday's in March. The 12th, I believe.”

Matt sighed, clearly Lotor's “associates” (whatever that meant) had researched him thoroughly. He at least got points for memorizing the information, Matt supposed. “I don't have a middle name.” Lotor continued. “And my birthday is May 25th.” He leaned back and finally coaxed Matt into turning around. “Do we know each other well enough yet? Because if not, my favorite color is turquoise, I'm awful at playing the cello, I had a cat na-” Matt stood up on his tip toes and kissed Lotor to shut him up.

They were both laughing when they broke apart. “Fine. But only if I can switch shifts with someone.”

Lotor looked down at him fondly, the afternoon sun casting a very flattering halo around him. “That’s perfectly reasonable.” He replied, brushing his thumb over Matt’s cheek.

Matt frowned. “I cut you off too soon, I wanna know about the cat.” He finished with a goofy smile that had Lotor pushing his face away before scooping Matt up in another hug.

“Her name was Kova, and she was awful. Always biting and hissing, nasty little hell-beast. Loved my mother, though.” He answered with a faraway smile.

Matt groaned a little. “Wow, if you don’t like cats, this isn’t gonna work.” He said, shaking his head in mock-disappointment.

“I love cats!” Lotor interjected defensively. “Just not _that_ cat.” They laughed together again as they watched the waves. After a few minutes of enjoying the closeness and feeling more at ease, Lotor finally sighed. “I really do have to get back to work.” He sounded as disappointed as Matt felt.

Matt leaned into his chest for another stolen moment before agreeing to head back to the parking lot. Lotor shook his head as Matt put his helmet back on and pulled out his keys. “Oh come on, don’t give me that. You love it.”

Lotor laughed again and tossed his hair over his shoulder. “God help me, I really do.” He leaned down and pressed one last kiss to Matt’s mouth before forcing himself to get back into his car. He didn’t wait for Matt to leave before pulling out and heading back to work.

That evening, Matt learned that Lotor did, in fact, use emojis. Very, very badly. He cringed a little to himself about how reminiscent it was of texting his dad. He set his phone down on his desk and clapped a hand over his mouth with sudden realization. He sprinted into the living room where Shiro and Keith were playing video games on the couch. “Shiro, do I have a sugar daddy?!” He all but screamed.

Shiro and Keith looked at each other for a second and then back to Matt, and then back to each other before collapsing into a giggle pile on the couch. “Guys come on, this is serious.” Shiro tried to keep himself together, but had to stop mid-word the first few times he tried to speak in order to laugh some more.

“Matt… if you have to ask that question I think you already know the answer.” Shiro tried to put it gently. It hit Matt like a ton of bricks.

He ran a hand down his face. “He wants me to go to a charity thing on a boat this weekend.” He said with a thousand yard stare. “I don’t… I can’t…”

Keith started laughing again at the word “charity” but Shiro at least made it to “boat.” He wiped at his eyes. “Obviously you guys have fun together, so even if that is his intention, what does it matter?” Shiro was smart and reasonable and a good friend. He made valid points. Matt was still horrified.

Matt blew out a large puff of air. “I need to go call my dad.” He looked very distressed.

“Which one?” Keith bellowed out with another round of boisterous laughter. Matt looked like he might cry.

Shiro grabbed a pillow and held it over Keith’s head as he lightly struggled. “Don’t mind us, I’m just going to gently smother the love of my life to death. Go call your father.” Shiro’s forced grin and awkward laugh did little to brighten his spirits.

He sat back down at his desk and picked up his phone as he heard Shiro quietly lecture Keith on being a Good Friend. He scrolled to his dad’s contact card and paused. He had no idea what he wanted to say to his father other than “Hey dad, just calling to let you know you’re great and I’m not weird about dad-stuff.” That conversation would not be fun. Risking the humiliation if Keith heard him, he dialed Lotor instead. It was ringing before Matt realized what a mistake he’d made.

Lotor’s smooth, “Matthew, I didn’t expect to hear from you.” had his mind reeling.

He wanted to ask a thousand questions. If Lotor considered them talking or dating or boyfriends or whatever. If he thought Matt was only with him for his money, when he actually liked what a big dork he was and his weird sense of humor and pretty hair and nice smile. And dozens of other things. What actually came out of his mouth was “I don’t wanna call you Daddy.”

He squeezed his eyes shut hard, not quite believing he’d just said that. The line was very quiet for a long moment. “I can only think of a few things I’d like to be called _less,_ actually. What on Earth brought this on?”

Matt swallowed hard. “Oh thank God.” He whispered under his breath. “Uh… the TLDR is Shiro and Keith think you’re… uhh…” He didn’t want to say it.

“Buying you affections?” Lotor supplied diplomatically.

Matt sighed. “Yes. That.”

Lotor hummed over the line. Matt heard typing in the background. He hoped Lotor was alone in his office. “Money is a tool. I use it as I see fit to get what I want. But you don’t seem the type to be overly concerned with material goods and I like your company as much as I enjoy our time in the bedroom. Does that help?”

It really, really did. “Thank you.” Matt said before realizing there was more he should probably add. “I feel exactly the same way!” He tried to sound enthusiastic instead of exasperated.

“And as long we’re talking about pet names, I was rather fond of… Angel.” Matt could hear the blush in his voice as he paused, and his own face flushed remembering the context of the endearment.

He let out a shaky breath. “Yeah, that’s way better.”

He heard another voice on the other end of the phone before Lotor spoke. “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you tonight?”

Matt smiled into his empty bedroom. “Yeah. Sounds good, angel.”

Lotor didn’t respond before he hung up. Matt laughed to himself, picturing Lotor sitting in his office, flustered, trying to do something important. He spent the rest of the evening studying and actually putting away his laundry. Around 11, he fell asleep with his phone on his chest, waiting for Lotor to call.


	6. Chapter 6

Matt's phone rang. The buzzing on his chest had him sitting bolt upright in bed. He managed to grab it before it clattered to the ground. Glancing in a daze at the caller ID, he answered as soon as he saw it was Lotor. “Hey, angel.” He said with a blush and a grin.

“You sound tired. Did I wake you?” Lotor sounded tired, too.

Matt yawned. “Yeah, but that's fine. I didn't mean to fall asleep.”

Lotor laughed a little into the tinny speakers. He sounded like he was driving. “I don't suppose you've heard if you'll be available on Friday or not?” He sounded nervous.

Matt smiled even wider. “Yeah one of the guys said he'd switch me for Tuesday.”

Lotor let out a relieved sigh. “Good. I was dreading the thought of going without you.”

Matt closed his eyes and smiled. He couldn't believe how grateful the candid words made him. “I gotta warn you, though… I'm not really used to rubbing elbows with the upper crust.” He was excited to spend the evening with Lotor, but being around a bunch of rich people didn't sound like his idea of a good time.

“I was fully intending to ignore everyone but you, if that helps.” Lotor replied with a laugh.

Matt shook his head. “It does, actually.” It felt a little ridiculous to be this sappy after such a short time, but he couldn't deny how he was feeling, at least not to himself.

Lotor hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose you have class in the morning.” He said, voice carrying a hint of disappointment.

Matt groaned. “9am. December me was so naive and optimistic. What time is it anyway?” He'd been so excited for the call he hadn't checked his clock.

“It's just gone 12:30 now.” Lotor answered after a slight pause. “That’s probably too late to abscond with you for the evening, isn't it?”

Matt's heart screamed _no_ while his brain screamed _yes, way too late, go the fuck to sleep_. His brain won out in the end, as it usually did. “Yeah, I'm sorry. I should be done TAing at 5, though.”

Lotor made another thoughtful noise. “I have a meeting that starts at 4, I'm not sure when it'll be out. We'll have to play it by ear unfortunately.” The sound cleared up and Matt could hear the elevator whir in the background.

Matt knew it was untenable to expect to see each other as often as they had the previous weekend for any length of time, but the realization made his heart pang. “Yeah…” The word came out much more pathetically than he'd hoped.

“You left a t-shirt here.” Lotor responded out of the blue. “Would it be strange if I said I was glad for that?”

His stomach was doing jumping jacks. “No, not at all.”

He heard rustling in the background as Lotor got ready for bed. “I think I'd have to cut it off if I tried to wear it.” He said with a laugh.

The thought had Matt laughing too. “Yeah, sorry I'm not grade A beef like some people.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Lotor pretended to be offended but Matt could hear the smile in his voice.

He closed his eyes and pictured what he wanted to say. “Oh you know the type, 11 feet tall, legs for days, sexy long hair and strong enough to carry you to bed.” He chuckled as he finished, replaying the fond memories in his head.

“I'm 6 foot 6 thank you, I'm not a giraffe.” They both laughed.

Matt bit his lip, considering how far he wanted to take this conversation. He knew Shiro usually spent the night at Keith's place on Sunday and decided he might as well go for broke. “You are sexy, though.”

The huskily whispered words earned him a sharp exhale on the other end of the phone. “Tell me more.” The breathy reply came after a brief pause.

Matt closed his eyes again. “I can't stop thinking about your hands.” He didn't say _or the rest of you_ but it was on the tip of his tongue.

“What about them?” Lotor's voice had taken on a dangerous edge, dropping low into a rumbling bass.

Matt pulled his shirt off. “I want your fingers back in my mouth. I still have bruises on my hips and I can't stop looking at them.” He hoped the scattered thoughts came out at least somewhat coherently as he laid a hand over the semicircle of too-tan flesh on his hip. They were fading fast.

He licked his lips as he waited for Lotor's reply. “Do you like it when I mark you?” He asked hesitantly.

“Yes.” Matt groaned out without a second thought. “I want you to leave marks all over me.” He slid his sweatpants down to his knees.

He heard another labored exhale. “I will. I'll mark you as mine.”

Matt couldn't resist the temptation to take himself in hand at the thought. “Fuck…” He groaned out.

“Are you touching yourself?” The blunt question had Matt gasping out an affirmation before he could even think to be or coy or deny it. “Good. I'm going to take you apart inch by inch tomorrow. I can't get the taste of you off my tongue. I never want to.”

Lotor's breathing had sped up and it was driving Matt's pace with his own hand. “Shit.” He hissed out. “I never want you to either. I love your tongue, your whole mouth.” In his lust-filled haze he was fine throwing the word _love_ around like he had any business thinking about it this early on, but in the back of his mind he knew he'd be embarrassed later.

“Matthew…” His voice came out in a ragged gasps. “I'm not going to last much longer.” The quiet admission had Matt's hand speeding up even faster.

He started seeing stars behind his eyes as Lotor whispered. “Me neither, angel, just a little more.”

With another moan of Matt's name Lotor was done for, and Matt followed quickly after. Their labored breathing was the only sound for several minutes. Matt smiled as he heard a genuine laugh on the other end of the phone. “I haven't done that since I was a teenager.”

His cheeks darkened. “That was my first time, actually.” He admitted bashfully.

“Well you're a natural.” Lotor replied with another laugh, albeit a shorter one.

Matt cleaned himself up as well as he could with tissues. “So how was the rest of your day?”

Lotor let out a disgusted noise. “I'm considering retiring. I'll move to the country and get a dog or something.”

Matt laughed again. “I like dogs.” He said quietly.

“Good. We'll get four.” The quick, chuckled reply had Matt's heart pounding all over again.

Lotor yawned on the other end of the line and Matt realized it had to be almost 1am by now. “We should probably get to bed. But we can check the humane society’s website for dogs tomorrow.” He tried to sound like he was telling a joke, but the thought had more appeal than he cared to admit to himself.

“I'll call you as soon as I'm free.” Lotor promised quietly.

Matt couldn't help the yawn that he let out when he first tried to reply. “Sounds good.”

They each said goodnight and hung up, staring at their phones long after the screen went black. It was a restless night for both of them.

..

Lotor woke up with his alarm, still holding Matt's t-shirt against his chest. The sun hadn't quite started to rise just yet. Normally, he'd be up and started on his morning exercise routine by then, but he felt like he was glued to his bed. He ran his hand over the soft cotton before bringing it to his face and inhaling deeply. It still smelled like Matt.

He tossed the shirt to the floor when he realized what he'd done. He dragged himself out of bed and decided to skip the gym in favor of a long, hot shower. Once under the steamy spray, it was hard to find a spot he could look at without thinking of soft honey-colored hair or bright hazel eyes staring into his. This had _not_ been part of his plan.

It was… nice though. It had been a long time since Lotor could remember having an actual friend outside of work, much less a- he wrinkled his nose. Boyfriend made it sound like they were children. Partner immediately conjured images of old westerns and silly cowboy hats in his mind. Significant other seemed too utilitarian. He frowned. He'd never had anyone like Matt anyway so he supposed the label didn't matter.

He'd expected an all together different type of distraction in the shower, but their late night indiscretion and his contemplative mood made it an emotional one instead of physical. He wondered if Matt liked flowers.

He thought about going into the office early, his normal morning routine having been thrown out the window left him with over an hour until he had to be at work. He wished he'd asked for the picture Matt had taken at lunch yesterday as he sipped his coffee, alone in the kitchen.

It had been a joke last night, but now he wondered if he _should_ retire. He had no love for private jets and vacation homes and fancy suits. He had more than enough saved away that it wasn't an absurd option as long as he lived modestly. 

He sighed. He couldn't just walk away, no matter how much he wanted to. He and Acxa had worked too hard for too long to give up when they were so close. His head ached.

He ended up leaving early anyway, getting to his corner office and mahogany desk before almost anyone else was in the building. He left the lights off as he started up his computer in night mode, the yellow tint much less jarring to his overtired eyes.

At 7:30, he couldn't stand it anymore. He sent a simple good morning message to Matt and stared at his phone, willing him to answer. The reply didn't come until 8:15. _Good morning angel._

He'd latched on to the endearment with both hands and his whole heart, much like its source. The thought of laying on the couch all day watching television, holding Matt close again, nearly had tears pricking his eyes. He was in sore need of a vacation.

Instead, he spent the day as he usually did, sending hundreds of emails, sitting in meetings using ridiculous buzzwords he didn't care about, doing walkthroughs of the R&D labs and salivating at the thought of returning to those days now long past. He popped two _Excedrin Migraine Relief_ tablets and had lunch at his desk.

Acxa walked in without knocking, being the only person Lotor wouldn't immediately have fired for doing so. “Our time table’s just moved up.” She said as she leaned against the corner of his desk and crossed her arms.

Lotor frowned. “What did you hear?” He rested his chin on his hands.

“Alfor announced his retirement. His daughter's taking over as acting CEO of Altea Advance effective immediately.” She looked up at the blank wall of televisions Lotor usually had turned on to the various news networks on mute. “Are you alright?”

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I'm in a bit of a mood this morning, my apologies.” She frowned at the bottle of pills still next to his keyboard.

Pushing off the desk she closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders. “I know this is a lot. But we'll figure it out. Go home and rest if you need to, I can take your calls.”

Lotor sighed. Resting sounded heavenly, but he knew it would just make tomorrow worse. “Thank you, Acxa.” He returned her loose hug. “I have a meeting with Sendak at 4, though, I would never put you through that.”

Acxa leaned back into the desk and grimaced at the name. “He's a moron and a brute, how he keeps his job I'll never understand.”

Lotor laughed. “His constant media scandals keep the masses distracted and out of my father's hair. It's a masterstroke, really.”

Acxa smirked. “Is that why you keep Ezor around?” She asked playfully.

Lotor brought a finger to his smiling lips. “Oh hush, she's lovely.”

They shared a private laugh for a moment. “I'll schedule something with Allura for whenever she's free. I'm sure Zarkon will end up telling you to do it anyway. If you need me to take care of anything else, just let me know.”

He smiled at her and offered his sincere gratitude. She had been his greatest friend for more than half his life and she carried out her duties as his Vice Chief of Operations with the fealty he'd expect of a knight. “If you could take my 2:00 I'd be immeasurably grateful.” He finally asked as she was leaving.

She offered him a small smile. “Consider it done.” She shut the door on her way out.

His office dark and quiet again, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. The throbbing in his head was starting to ebb, but with every new email alert from his computer and phone he didn't have high hopes for the trend to continue. He'd been chatting with Matt intermittently throughout the day, but he hadn't responded in quite a while. Lotor smiled softly at the thought of Matt with his nose buried in a book or elbow deep in a USP laser housing. He couldn't wait for the day to end.

His meeting with Sendak went as most of their meetings did: Sendak saying words he didn't understand while a barely-legal instagram model sat on his lap and brought him champagne in turns. Lotor hoped no one would see Matt the way they saw that poor girl on Sendak’s arm. They might at first, he supposed, but Lotor had no intentions of replacing him at all, much less on the twice monthly schedule his esteemed colleague seemed to be running.

Lotor finally got to his car at 5:45 and sank into the plush leather seat with a sigh. His headache was back full force and all he wanted was to curl up in bed. Preferably with Matt.

He buckled his seatbelt, set the autopilot for Matt's address, and had his digital assistant app send the message he was too tired to type. “I'm finally ready to head home. Can I pick you up?”

Matt's reply came quickly. Lotor had to smile at the brevity. All it said was “Absolutely!”

15 minutes later, when Matt climbed into the passenger seat of his car, Lotor felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Their lips met softly, sweetly, with no urgency behind the kiss, just savoring the contact. “I missed you.” Lotor breathed out with his eyes still closed as Matt sat back into his own seat.

For all of his own hangups about open affection, Matt seemed to have none and beamed at the admission. “Me too! I've been looking forward to seeing you all day.” His smile was contagious.

Lotor took Matt’s hand and set his navigation to home. Matt chattered away about a project he was helping an undergraduate student with and how he didn't think he'd ever cut it as a professor but wasn't sure what else to do with a bachelor's in electrical engineering and a PhD in astrophysics when he finally graduated. Lotor smiled and raised their joint hands to his lips. Matt stopped his rambling and grinned at him again. Lotor's spirits were much higher by the time they made it inside.

His body warred with his mind as he ran his hands through Matt's hair and pulled him into a kiss. Part of him wanted to take Matt right there on the floor in the entryway, the rest of him wanted to crawl into bed and not get out until 5am the next morning. Matt pulled back from the kiss and looked up at him, brows furrowed. “You ok?” His sincere concern had Lotor's heart skipping beats.

“I'm afraid I may have made some promises last night that I'm not prepared to deliver on at the moment, unfortunately.” He said with a frown.

Matt shook his head and smiled. “Let's just go lay down, you look ready to fall asleep on your feet.” Lotor leaned down and kissed him again before following him to the bedroom.

Lotor took off his suit and put it in a dry cleaning bag, hanging it on the back wall of his closet so his housekeeper would know to grab it on Wednesday. He pulled on his favorite sweatshirt and sweatpants. He paused before heading back out to the bedroom, hand hovering over another hoodie for a moment before he decided to grab it.

He walked over where Matt was sitting on the edge of the bed, fiddling with his phone. “We should get you some loungewear for my apartment.” He said quietly. Matt looked up at him with a smile that faded into a confused head tilt as he saw the article in Lotor's hand. He held it out in between them. “In the interim, you could wear this. If you'd like.” His voice was quiet and his cheeks were burning red.

Matt's whole posture shifted as he let out an affectionate preen. The hoodie was old, well worn and clearly loved. It had a Hylian shield in the center with a tiny blue fairy trailing yellow up to the shoulder. “You big sap!” He called affectionately as he tore off his own sweater and shirt and pulled the much larger one over his shoulders. “I love it.”

 _I love you,_ Lotor almost couldn't bite the words back in time. It was ridiculous to be even entertaining such a thought so soon. He felt like a much younger, much more reckless man than his years and experience had worked hard to make him. “It suits you.” He said instead, smiling through the twin aches in his heart and head.

Matt wriggled out of his jeans as well, the sweater came down to his mid-thigh and Lotor thought his heart might stop at the swell of fondness as he took in the sight. They crawled under the covers together and Matt placed lazy kisses over Lotor's collarbone and neck as he rested his weary eyes. His mind thrummed as his body responded to the attention. “I have something I'd like to ask of you. I won't be offended if you're uncomfortable with it, so please don't feel pressured.”

Matt paused in his ministrations briefly. “What do you need?” That same genuine tone of concern leaked into his normally cheerful voice.

There were thousands of ways to ask for what he wanted, some delicate and coy, others flowery and sentimental. He decided to go for matter-of-fact instead. “I want you inside of me.” His face flared red again.

Matt moved from Lotor's neck to capture his lips in a heated kiss, the ferocity of which he hadn't expected. “Are you sure?” Matt asked, trying hard to keep the excitement from his voice.

Lotor was glad for his enthusiasm. He let out a quiet “yes” and chuckled as Matt kissed him again. He dragged Lotor's oversized jacket back off and made quick work of the rest of their clothes.

He started at Lotor's mouth and worked his way down the broad expanse of toned, lean muscle. A feather-light dusting of lips across Lotor's sensitive ribs had him laughing as Matt smirked up at him. He moved on from the more ticklish areas and kissed and nipped hard at Lotor's sharp hip bones, remembering how great it had felt on his own hips.

Lotor felt like he was floating under Matt's dedicated care. By the time his small fingers worked their way inside, he was so relaxed he hardly noticed the intrusion. Matt took him into his mouth as he added a third finger and the contrasting slight discomfort and bone-deep pleasure had his thighs shaking. He couldn't keep himself from moaning nonsense under Matt's talented mouth.

Matt pulled his fingers free and crawled back up Lotor's chest, placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Just lay back and let me take care of you.” He breathed against Lotor's lips.

Lotor nodded and kissed him again. “Thank you.” He whispered.

Matt sat back between Lotor's spread thighs and winked. “Don't thank me yet.” They both chuckled at the cheesy line.

Their laughter turned into gasps and moans of pleasure as Matt slowly slid home. Lotor's hands worked their way into Matt's hair again. He cursed his height as he wanted nothing more than Matt's lips on his, but the geometry didn't quite cooperate. They only managed a brief kiss before Lotor's shoulders and back complained at the unforgiving angle and he laid back against the mattress.

Stealing a line from Matt's book, he pulled the younger man's hand up to his mouth and sucked two fingers inside, relishing the moan it drew as Matt started shifting his hips slowly. “Please.” Lotor breathed out around them.

Matt's pace quickened and Lotor tried to buck his hips up at all in time with the rhythm. It had been years since he'd felt the urge to be on that side of the equation and his skills weren't as sharp as they once were. Matt had no quarrels with how things were going, proving his youth with a stamina that had Lotor panting hard.

Matt was sitting mostly upright on his hands and knees, Lotor's legs thrown over his narrow hips. He knew he couldn't hope to match Lotor's strength, but he had several tricks up his sleeve to make up for his stature and they were working out better than he'd hoped. It left him with a perfect view of Lotor falling apart.

Lotor's eyes were squeezed shut, mouth having fallen wide open and letting Matt's fingers slide out several moments ago. His hands clenched and unclenched in the sheets as Matt rocked into him at a moderate but unrelenting pace. He was nearing his own limit and gathering his breath to ask if Lotor was close when a strangled moan of _Matthew_ had his eyes widening in surprise as Lotor clenched around him.

Neither of them had so much as laid a finger on him since they started and Matt had to grit his teeth hard to keep himself from following immediately. He was determined to see Lotor through it before allowing himself to come undone. Thankfully for both of them it didn't take long.

He pulled out gently and flopped onto the bed next to Lotor with an exaggerated moan as he pulled him in for a tender kiss. “Fuck, that was so hot, angel.” He said breathlessly, leaning his head against Lotor's forehead. It was all Lotor could do to sigh contentedly.

They laid together for a while, hands clasped and legs tangled as they tried to work up the energy to shower. Eventually Lotor scooped Matt up into his arms and carried him, squealing and laughing, into the bathroom.

Matt finally insisted on getting his hands in Lotor's hair, and they'd dragged a stool in from the closet for Lotor to sit. Matt wanted to be able to reach everywhere without Lotor having to bend his neck at an awkward angle. Matt keened about how soft and lovely the strands were as Lotor prickled under the attention. It was hard to get used to Matt's easy tenderness, but he was determined to try.

A little more energetic after their shower, they heated up some leftover pizza and ate plateless and standing, chatting over the light music playing in the kitchen. Matt hummed thoughtfully around a bite. “About this boat party.” He said, looking at Lotor with a wry smile.

“What about it?” He asked, the look in Matt's eyes worrying him a bit.

Matt craned his head towards the speaker. “Are we gonna dance?”

Lotor laughed a quiet laugh, his cheeks pink again. _“People_ will likely be dancing. Though I have two left feet, I'm afraid.”

Matt set his pizza down on the counter and held out a hand. Lotor wrinkled his nose at the thought of grease on his granite countertops. The pleading look in Matt's eyes had him dropping his slice as well, indulging Matt again against his better judgement. Matt placed one of Lotor's hands around his waist and took the other, holding it up by his shoulder. He laid his head on Lotor's chest and swayed with him. “See? It's not that hard.”

Lotor hoped Matt couldn't hear the hammering of his heart as they rocked back and forth to the soft orchestral sounds. He placed a kiss to Matt's damp hair. “No, I suppose it isn't.”

The song ended and Matt moved back, lifting his chin in the familiar wordless request for a kiss that Lotor was powerless to deny. They finished their dinner and crawled into bed, fast asleep almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't @me about bottom Lotor, he's a good boy  
> (also if you've never topped someone bigger than you, you should try it. It's a religious experience)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to dedicate this chapter to Elon Musk.

Lotor woke up before his alarm clock went off. His left arm was numb and tingly but he couldn't find it in him to care. Not with Matt sleeping soundly, half on top of him with his face nuzzled into Lotor's shoulder, wearing nothing but Lotor's sweatshirt. Matt's hair was sticking up in every direction and he couldn't resist the urge to try to tame it with his fingers. 

Matt stirred and grumbled, burying himself deeper into Lotor's warmth. “What time is it?” His voice was muffled. 

Lotor pressed a kiss to his head. “Not time to get up yet, love, go back to sleep.” The diminutive slipped out of his tired mouth and made his blood run cold. 

If Matt noticed, he didn't mention it. “Mmmm good.” He pressed a sloppy kiss to Lotor's neck and his breath evened out again. 

The word felt good on his tongue and he wondered how what he'd intended to be a single night's indiscretion had lasted half a week and had him hoping for much longer. The breath blowing over his collarbone tickled and so did the downy strands covering his face as Matt slept on peacefully. It was a sight he'd become far too fond of. 

“I lied.” He whispered into Matt's hair. Matt blinked up at him with an untroubled smile and tried to ask what Lotor meant, but he never got the chance. 

Lotor pressed their mouths together and pushed Matt onto his back before he was even fully awake. He hummed into the kiss as his mind caught up and looped his arms around Lotor's neck, burying a hand in the canopy of platinum surrounding both of them. The insistent tugging on the backs of his knees had his ankles locking around Lotor's bare waist. Matt had to pull back to catch his breath as Lotor rocked their hips together. “Someone's feeling frisky this morning.” Matt teased as he panted. 

Lotor bumped their noses together gently. “You didn't see what I woke up to.” He murmured with a toothy grin that had Matt laughing.

“Well gosh, I had no idea I was so pretty.” Matt answered sarcastically with a dramatic flutter of his eyelashes.

Lotor kissed the smirk off his face. “You are, though. You're stunning.” He breathed against Matt's lips.

Matt's cheeks blossomed pink and he couldn't think of anything to say. Lotor didn't give him much of an opportunity. His lips crashed against Matt’s with a possessive fire that had Matt dazed. He pulled his head back with a sharp gasp as two slick fingers worked their way inside. Another searing kiss bit at his throat. Squeezing hard at Lotor’s shoulders, Matt let out a frantic “Hey!” 

Lotor’s hand and mouth paused as he looked up. “Did I hurt you?” 

Matt took a deep breath as Lotor looked at him anxiously. “No, no. I’m ok.” He inhaled again shakily. “But I’m not going anywhere, we can take our time.” He said with a forced laugh. 

Lotor ducked his head down and pressed a much softer kiss to Matt’s mouth as he gently craned his fingers. Matt’s eyes slid shut with a muffled moan. “Is that better?” Lotor whispered into the kiss. His only reply was a shuddering exhale and relaxed smile. 

Taking his time was a struggle as he felt his pulse thrum in his neck, but he did his best to make sure Matt was ready before he finally pushed his way inside. Matt’s smile faded into an open mouthed pant as he reached down to pull the oversized hoodie off. Lotor grabbed his wrists and pinned them over his head, sliding his hands up Matt’s to twine their fingers. “I want you to keep it on.”

Matt’s legs locked tighter around Lotor’s waist as he nodded, breathlessly. The headboard rocked into the wall, scuffing the pristine gunmetal grey paint at Lotor’s relentless pace. Matt’s knuckles were white as he gripped tightly at Lotor’s hands and moved with him, the soft cotton sweater sticking to the sweaty skin of his chest where it had ridden up. Lotor bit down hard at the juncture of Matt’s neck and shoulder, sucking a deep bruise into the soft flesh. 

Matt let one hand slide free of Lotor’s grip and moved between them, but it was back up over his head before he could give himself the relief he needed. He let out a whine of frustration. “Come on… please… Lotor...” He panted hard, pulling at Lotor’s grasp on his hands. 

Lotor nipped at his cheek before placing a soft kiss over it. “Not yet.” He gritted out before capturing Matt’s mouth again. He bucked up wildly, losing all sense of cadence as Lotor drove into him. Lotor finally let one of Matt’s hands fall free and it took almost nothing before he was spilling out between them with a strangled moan and tears pricking the corners of his eyes. 

Lotor didn’t slow down at all as Matt clenched around him, continuing to pummel into him and leave dark bruises anywhere the collar of the baggy hoodie left exposed. By the time he couldn’t hold himself back any longer, letting go with a grunt into Matt’s neck, Matt was clutching onto his back so hard his fingertips left small red semi-circles on Lotor’s shoulder blades. 

He rolled to the side and pulled Matt close, savoring the sweat-diluted smell of his shampoo in Matt’s hair as they both slowly recovered. Breathing not quite evened-out, Matt let out a laugh. Lotor looked at him appraisingly before bumping his chin into Matt’s forehead in silent question. “That was…” He shook his head. “As soon as I can feel my legs, we’re doing that again.” 

Lotor laughed as he pushed the unruly hair from Matt’s eyes. “I’m afraid I’m probably already late for work. Perhaps tonight?” 

Matt wrinkled his nose. “I work until 11 tonight and have class again at 9 tomorrow morning.” 

Lotor pulled Matt closer. “When are you finished for the summer?” He groused. 

“Two weeks.” He sighed, nuzzling deeper into the embrace. 

Lotor hummed thoughtfully as he ran his hand up and down Matt’s back. “I suppose I’ll survive not seeing you  _ every _ night until then.” He said with a chuckle. 

Matt laughed and popped his head up. “I don’t wanna be that guy that gets a new boyfriend and drops off the face of the Earth.” His cheeks went pink as the realization struck him. “Uh… I mean… well you know.” He stammered out. 

Lotor ran his thumb along Matt’s cheek before leaning down to kiss him again. “I’ll endeavor not to occupy all of your time, much as I might like to.” His tone was teasing, but his eyes were soft. Matt let out a nervous laugh and hugged him close. 

“You said you were late for work like, a year ago, we should probably get out of bed.” Lotor begrudgingly agreed and headed toward the bathroom. Matt went to follow, pulling the hoodie off with a grimace. “I kinda uh…” 

Lotor laughed. “That’s fine, just put it in the hamper. With the state of my sheets I’ll already not be looking my housekeeper in the eyes any time soon.” 

Matt did as he asked and shook his head. “I can’t believe you have a housekeeper.” 

The shower started up with a hiss as Lotor pulled Matt in under the spray. “Really? My car drives itself and you think I bother doing my own vacuuming? I am  _ much  _ lazier than I let on.” They both laughed as they helped each other rinse off. 

No time for anything more than a few brief brushes of lips of distraction, they showered quickly and dressed. Lotor handed Matt another sweatshirt. “I had ulterior motives when I gave you the other one.” He blushed to the tips of his ears. “I was hoping you could wear it tonight so it would smell like you when you brought it back.” Matt grinned and pulled it over his head. He looked ridiculous swimming in the fabric, but the smile on his face and blush on his cheeks made Lotor’s chest swell. “Thank you.” He whispered against Matt’s lips as he leaned down for another kiss. 

They finally made it out the door and to the car, half an hour after Lotor usually arrived at work. He’d silenced his phone long ago, but the number notifications of calls and messages and emails continued to climb as they drove. He turned the radio up and smiled as Matt bopped along, quietly singing whatever top 40 drivel was coming over the speakers. His hands were completely eclipsed by the sleeves and he flopped them around comically. Lotor laughed and reached for his hand, lacing their fingers as they drove to Matt’s apartment. 

They stopped in front of the main door and tried to say their goodbyes, instead getting tangled in another round of deep, slow kisses. “You're already late for work.” Matt reminded gently. 

Lotor smiled at his concern. “I'm tempted to take the morning off.” He murmured low, the implication obvious. 

Matt shook his head, still smiling. “No way, then it'll be my fault you're all stressed and grumpy.” Lotor frowned at him. He was about to protest the assessment, but was stopped by Matt's lips again. “I'll see you tomorrow. Promise.” 

Lotor finally nodded with a sigh. “Tomorrow.” It felt like too long. He stole one last kiss before Matt left. 

Shiro was glaring at the coffee pot when Matt walked in. He blinked tired eyes and turned his head to offer a good morning but stopped in his tracks as he saw Matt in Lotor's hoodie. He laughed so hard he had to clutch at his stomach. “Oh my god, what are you wearing?” 

Matt beamed at him and flapped the large sleeves. “It's Lotor's.” He said cheerfully. “It's so soft, dude knows how to live.” He walked over so Shiro could feel the feathery material coating the inside of the sleeves. 

“Yeah, that's pretty soft.” Shiro said with a chuckle before turning back to the coffee. “So he's uh… he's a pretty big guy then?” Shiro asked, finally taking a blessed sip of the bitter caffeine. 

Matt smirked at him. “Oh yeah. Huge.” Shiro scrunched his face up while Matt laughed. “Hey, you started it!” He called as he headed to his bedroom to pack his backpack for class. 

“Yes, yes I did.” Shiro replied, shaking his head while following Matt down the short hallway. “And I was not prepared for you to finish it.” 

Matt had a spring in his step that made Shiro smile. He'd always been a happy guy, rarely a frown on his face, but he'd seemed in even better spirits lately. It wasn't hard to guess why. Matt looked up after zipping his laptop in the bag. “So… how long were you and Keith friends before you started dating?” He asked, cheeks heating into a light pink. 

Shiro took another sip of his coffee as he thought. “A few months? Maybe 6 or so. Why?” 

Matt hummed in thought as he busied his hands tidying up his small room. “I dunno. I'm just kinda worried I'm moving way too fast with Lotor. We met like less than a week ago and I'm already so far gone. It's bad.” He elongated the a sound and rocked forward on his toes. 

“Maybe you guys are just really good together.” Shiro offered as he leaned against the doorframe. “But you are moving pretty fast, and if you feel like you need to put the breaks on, do it. If you don't, don't. You're both grownups.” 

Matt thought for a moment before folding his hands into the opposite sleeves and bowing. “Thank you for this wisdom, Master Shirogane.” He said in dramatic reverence.

Shiro laughed. “I'll make a Jedi out of you someday, young Padawan.” They cracked up together as Shiro finished his coffee.

Matt pulled out his phone and typed out a message to Lotor: “I miss you” with a winking kiss emoji.

The reply came in less than five minutes. “Is it tomorrow yet?” 

He smiled through his spoonful of cereal. “Soon!” 

The rest of the morning went by quickly. Matt didn't have class until 10, so he caught up on all of his favorite subreddits that he'd been neglecting since Wednesday night. It sucked all of the time until he needed to leave for class in the blink of an eye. 

He got a few strange looks from his fellow students as he took his normal seat in the middle of the lecture hall. He knew he looked silly in the gigantic sweater but it still smelled like Lotor's apartment and it was one of the most comfortable things he'd ever worn, so it didn't bother him in the slightest. Lotor didn't reply until Matt was struggling to keep his eyes open, over an hour into the three hour long lecture. 

“Not nearly soon enough.” Followed by a skull emoji.

Matt snickered to himself. “How busy are you right now?” He replied. They were reviewing material for the final, which was nice of the professor, but Matt already had such a high A that he literally couldn't fail the course, even with a 0 on the exam. One of the small mercies of having a ton of homework and labs, he mused to himself. Though it didn't give him much motivation to try very hard anymore. 

“I have a meeting in 20 mins. Why?” Matt smiled at Lotor's reply. 

It was probably mean of him, but he didn't think Lotor would mind much. “Just thinking about last night. It was awesome, but I came up with some logistical improvements we could try ;)” 

The reply was much faster this time. “Do tell.” 

He smirked as he tried to subtly look around to make sure none of his classmates were looking at his phone screen as the professor carried on. He turned his brightness down just in case. “I wanna try bending you over the side of the bed, might work out a little better.” His face flushed as he hit send.

The three little bubbles that signified Lotor was typing stayed on the screen for several minutes. Matt's heart was hammering hard. Was it too much? Was Lotor mad that he would send that to him while he was working? He finally got a “yes” and frowned. All that typing and just a yes? 

He tried to pay attention again, assuming Lotor was busy and they'd talk about it when he was free, but his phone buzzed a moment later. “That's a sound hypothesis, we should test it. For science.” 

Matt smirked again. “I love science. So rewarding.”

He laughed out loud and had to cover it with a cough when Lotor's reply came right away. “Indeed.” 

The rest of the lecture and the early afternoon went by slowly for Matt. Lotor was busy for most of the day and could only respond to his messages intermittently, which was understandable but took a bit of the wind out of Matt's sails. At 5 he started getting ready for work, his phone notifications blank. 

After ironing one of his new shirts and taking a quick shower, he looked in the mirror and smiled at his reflection. The bruises from the weekend had all but faded, just tiny, slightly tanner bits of skin that you'd have to look hard for to notice. Below his collar, though, deep black and purple marks stuck out vividly on his pale flesh and made him shiver as he remembered what led to them. His phone rang on the edge of the sink. “Hey, I was just thinking about you.” He answered it with a smile. 

“Great minds.” Came Lotor's amused reply. “You said you're off work at 11?” He sounded like he was in a hurry. 

Matt frowned. “Yeah, why?” 

He heard a door click shut. “I'd like to continue the discussion we were having earlier. It's been distracting me all day, rather graphically.” 

Matt's face flushed. “That's pretty dirty payback, you know I have to leave in 10 minutes.” He replied with a laugh. 

“Hmm… how tragic. It's almost as if this were some kind of petty revenge scheme.” Matt could hear the smirk in his voice. He ached to feel it against his lips. 

He let out a frustrated groan. “Well good thing you're way too classy for that.” Surviving a midweek evening shift had just become a much more daunting task. 

Lotor chuckled low under his breath, but it didn't come out like a laugh. It reminded Matt of the hungry not-smile that had drawn him in before. “I think you'd be surprised at just how classless I can be.” 

Matt almost dropped the phone he had cradled between his head and shoulder as his fingers slipped on a button. “You know, I love surprises. Big fan.” He finally breathed out. 

“Call me when your shift is through. I've got to get back to work.” The command came out in that familiar way that was really a request, and he sounded disappointed at having to cut the call short. 

Matt bit his bottom lip in thought for a moment before replying. “Will do, angel. Don't work too hard.” They said their goodbyes and Matt shook his head fondly as he pocketed his phone and finished getting ready for work.

It was a pleasant surprise to see Keith's car in the parking lot when he arrived, but the look on Keith's face when he walked into the kitchen had Matt reconsidering. They looked at each other for a long moment before Keith’s mouth ticked up into a smirk. Matt cringed and waited for him to make a joke and embarrass him in front of their coworkers. All he did was wave and offer a bored-sounding hello. It had Matt on edge all night. 

The 5 hour shift went by like he'd been trapped in the event horizon of a black hole for a millennium. They didn't have many customers, which was common for a Tuesday evening, but without Hunk and Lance there with a silly game to distract them, it was extremely boring. Keith wasn't normally much for chatting, but they commiserated over finals together as they cleaned the already spotless kitchen. Matt cursed that Coran had a strict no-phones-in-the-kitchen rule, it was the only minor grievance he had with the man. 

“So are you going back home tonight or is daddy picking you up?” Keith said casually, far out of earshot of the rest of the staff. 

Matt dropped the rag he'd been wiping the side of the fridge with. “Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that.” Keith fell over onto the floor laughing as Matt cringed, face flaming red. 

Keith picked himself back up and wiped one side of his face with his hand. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” He gasped, still trying to calm himself down. “Don't be mad.” 

Matt looked up at the clock. 10:55. “Look, we talked about it and it's totally not that kinda situation, ok?” 

Keith laughed again. “How much did that shirt cost again?” 

Face bursting into blush again, Matt stammered. “He has a lot of money, and we're together, but that's not  _ why  _ we're together. Plus he ruined my old one, so like fair's fair.” He crossed his arms. 

Keith held his hands up and shrugged. “Ok, whatever you say.” He didn't sound convinced. 

Matt frowned. Keith making fun of him aside, he was looking forward to finally being free from work so he could make a  _ very _ important phone call. At 11:02, he retrieved his phone from his locker and saw 3 new messages. 7:50: “I'm just leaving now, I'm exhausted” 9:17: “How much do you love surprises?” 10:58: “I've made a bit of a gamble, I hope you won't be angry”

He cocked his head to the side as he reread the last message. After grabbing his helmet and shutting his locker, he walked outside. The finger that had been poised to hit  _ dial _ moved to lock the screen as he looked up and saw the familiar dark purple car idling next to his scooter. 

Lotor rolled the window down with a sheepish smile as Matt approached. Matt's face was split wide with a grin. He leaned in and pressed their lips together. He'd been honestly considering crawling through the window as Lotor's hand slid into his hair but thought better of it. “Should I tell Shiro you won't be home?” Keith called with a smirk from his own car. Matt jumped at the voice and hit his head on the roof before slowly extracting himself and turning around. 

“Uhh…” He stammered, turning back to Lotor. Lotor raised an eyebrow and shrugged, but Matt saw the hint of pleading in his eyes. “Shit. Yeah tell him I'll be home really early tomorrow morning.” 

Keith raised a hand in the air in a partial wave, which Lotor returned with a nod as Matt walked around to the passenger side. “So what happened to surviving the night without me?” Matt said with a smile as he sat down. 

Lotor shrugged. “I need your measurements for Friday.” He smiled at Matt's fond expression. “And it was a convenient excuse.” 

Matt leaned over and kissed him again. “I don't want you to be late to work again because of me.” 

Lotor cupped Matt's chin and ran a thumb across his lower lip. “I won't be.” 

Matt swallowed hard. “Good enough for me.” He whispered as he tried to chase the offending digit with his tongue. 

Wasting no time, Lotor backed out of the parking space and engaged the autopilot. He leaned over and pulled Matt into another kiss. An annoying beep had Lotor pulling away with a growl and putting his hands back on the wheel. Matt held a hand up to his mouth, covering it. “Oh my god, your car drives itself.” 

Lotor raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. “How many times have you been in this car now?” He asked a little sarcastically. 

“I have something I need to cross off my bucket list. But it also kinda ruins our plans for the night.” Matt replied, ignoring Lotor's flippant question. 

Lotor let out a harsh breath and pulled off onto a side street. “You're not suggesting…?” 

Matt smiled and nodded. “It's so dangerous in most cars, but I've always wanted to! And if all you have to do is keep your hands on the wheel and it drives itself…” 

Lotor shook his head. “There are cameras at all of the traffic lights.” 

“So get on the highway.” Matt countered, smirking again and leaning over to nip playfully at his chin. 

Lotor took a deep breath and stared up at the roof for a moment before turning the car around. He was facing directly forward, no indication that he'd even heard Matt's suggestion. Matt leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms, debating the merits of pouting. Lotor looked over at him and pulled onto the highway. He heard the telltale  _ bing _ of the autopilot engaging. 

Matt's face lit up as he leaned over and immediately pressed a kiss to Lotor's lips. “This is gonna be awesome.” He said with a grin. 

The thrill of how easily they could be caught went coursing down Lotor's spine. Matt untucked his own shirt and then set about disrobing Lotor enough to get what he wanted. He let a quiet groan of pleasure slip out as Matt's mouth and one of his hands surrounded him. 

There was very little traffic at nearly half past 11 on a Tuesday night, but Lotor still sat straight and rigid in his seat, hands at precisely 10 and 2, more than a little nervous. If anyone saw what they were doing and managed to get a picture, he knew he'd be in for a PR nightmare that Acxa would never let him live down. 

Matt reached up and pulled one of Lotor's arms off the wheel and placed it on his head. He held it there, lightly curled in the soft golden strands as he tried to keep his eyes from squeezing shut. Matt pulled off with a pop and looked up from Lotor's lap. “Come on, get into it a little. Pull my hair or something.” Matt teased. 

Lotor groaned again, squeezing tighter into Matt's hair and pushing him down. Matt hummed in delight through his full mouth and Lotor let out a ragged gasp for air. He dragged Matt's head up and down roughly, his other hand gripping hard on the steering wheel. They passed by the exit that would take them to Lotor's apartment. 

Matt shifted positions so his free hand could work its way into his own now painfully tight slacks. It made for a tough balancing act, but he was nothing if not determined. Lotor rocked his hips up in time with his hand and stared down at his lap as Matt bounced. He felt Matt’s jaw go slack as he spilled out over the previously unsullied leather. It was enough to push him over the edge as well. 

He pulled the car over onto the empty shoulder and leaned back against the headrest, hand smoothing down the mess he’d made of Matt’s hair. He laughed as Matt sat up and wiped at his mouth and then his watery eyes and nose. “That was dumb and reckless.” He said as he dragged his thumb over a smudge on Matt’s cheek. 

“And really fun.” Matt replied with a breathless smile. “But I kinda wrecked your seat.” 

Lotor laughed again. “There are tissues in the glove compartment.” 

Matt pulled them out and did his best to clean up the mess as Lotor shifted and put his own clothing right. He sat back in his seat with a satisfied huff of air and reached for Lotor’s hand. “Thank you for helping me achieve my dreams.” He said smugly.

Lotor smiled and shook his head. “I’m not going to be able to keep up with you much longer if this is what your dreams look like.” 

Matt squeezed his hand affectionately. “Hey, most of my dreams are good and wholesome. I only have a couple other x rated ones.”

Lotor started the car again and pulled back onto the highway, looking for a spot to turn around. “Well, let me know if you ever need more help.” 

It was quiet in the car for a few minutes. The radio was turned off and the night air was still. Matt looked at him from the side and grinned. “You don’t happen to have a plane, do you?” 

“My company has a private plane, for business trips.” Lotor said, confused at first. He caught on after a moment. “Oh, Matthew! Surely not?” He asked, incredulous. They laughed together for most of the rest of the short ride to Lotor’s garage. 

Once inside, Matt yawned and stretched. “You probably don’t have contact solution, huh?” He asked, hopeful. 

Lotor frowned in thought for a moment. “You know, Acxa might have left some here, let me check.” He headed into the spare bathroom and rummaged around for a bit, coming back with a bright green bottle and a cardboard box. 

“Oh score, brand new case. I thought I was gonna have to put them in a wine glass or something.” He said with a laugh. Lotor shook his head as he threw off his sullied suit. He smiled at the small collection of Matt’s things growing on his vanity while he brushed his teeth. 

They crawled into bed together and drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms again. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whaaat there's a plot to this story??
> 
> Soft loving boys as requested by blueberrysenpaii and more bottom!Lotor for my lovely tumblr wife seiteki9! <3

Going to bed after midnight and waking up at 5am is a young man’s game, and Lotor had long since passed the days when he felt those words could remotely describe him. He rolled over onto his back, stabbed at his alarm with an agitated finger, and threw an arm over his eyes. Normally on a morning like that one, he’d get up, go to the gym, treat himself to a disgustingly rich and sugary breakfast, and a get a chai latte with extra cinnamon to boost his mood and set him up for success for the day. (Success being a sugar crash around 10am that had him drinking coffee until late in the afternoon and ruining his sleep schedule, so maybe it wasn’t quite his best plan, but it made him feel better)

That day, though, Matt crawled on top of him, pushed his arm off of his face and kissed him good morning. It was a kiss that was much better than a stack of pancakes with strawberry syrup eaten at his desk, or a carafe of hot, spicy tea that reminded him of Christmas and simpler times. A good morning kiss when all he wanted to do was crawl back under the covers for hours was not something he’d let himself hope for in a long while. 

Their lips slid together lazily as Matt laced their fingers together over his head, straddling his hips. He heard the first few notifications of the day ping on his phone and sighed. “I really can't be late again.” He murmured into Matt's lips. 

“Yeah, I know.” Matt replied, giving him one last kiss before sliding off of him and standing up. “I just wanted to make sure you'd miss me.” He said with a wink. 

Lotor smiled and shook his head, sitting up on an elbow as he watched Matt gather his clothes, squinting. “Let me put my contacts in, then you can go take a nice long shower while I make coffee.” He didn't wait for Lotor's response before heading into the bathroom. 

It was an odd feeling, having someone wake up and stay. Someone who wanted to make him coffee because he wanted to, not because they thought it would give them a leg up in their career. Someone he wanted to sit and drink coffee with in the morning. 

He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. He was growing overly sentimental as he entered middle age. He figured there were worse midlife crises one could have than an attractive young lover who shared all of the interests no one else in his life did and frequently exhausted him in the bedroom. Plus he already had a sports car. 

He was still musing when Matt came back out of the bathroom, blinking away artificial tears in a wrinkled suit. It brought a smile to his face right away. “Hey you're even hotter now that I can actually see.” He said cheerfully as he leaned over to take Lotor's hand and pretend to drag him out of bed. 

They laughed together as he begrudgingly followed the small tug. He pulled Matt close and held him for a moment, placing a soft kiss into his hair. “Don't forget about my sweater.” He whispered. 

Matt poked his ticklish ribs and laughed as he squawked and jumped away. “I won't.” He said with a smile as Lotor headed into the shower.

The hot water felt like heaven on his tired shoulders. It was only Wednesday but the week had already felt like an eternity. He wasn't sure if it was because he finally had something outside of work to look forward to, or if the stress was actually catching up to him after being almost untouchable for so long. The sound of Matt clanging around in the kitchen brought a smile to his face as he washed and thought. He figured the answer was probably a little of both. 

In much better spirits after a relaxing shower, he headed into the kitchen with a towel around his waist. Matt laughed as he handed over a fresh cup. “I guess I probably deserve that after my stunt on the bed, but it really should be against the Geneva Convention.”

Lotor smiled as he took a sip. He leaned down and kissed Matt gently. “I just really wanted some coffee is all.” His smile didn’t help sell the lie at all. 

Matt rolled his eyes. “Sure you did.” He pointed over at the fridge. “I did my measurements while you were in the shower, by the way.” 

A little post-it note with a decently drawn lower half of a person was stuck to the fridge. All of the measurements his tailor would need were neatly labeled and highlighted in different colors (or slashes of colors when he ran out) where they matched up to the drawing. Lotor laughed a little as he looked it over. “You color coded a post-it note.” He said with an amused lilt to his voice. 

Matt scoffed. “Of course I did, how would you know which measurement was where otherwise?” 

Matt’s shoulders hit the door of the refrigerator with a soft thud as Lotor planted him against it with a palm on his chest. He let his towel drop as he slid a hand into Matt’s hair and wrapped the other around Matt’s waist. Matt was helpless as his mouth was plundered but he didn't mind in the slightest as his hands roved over every inch of Lotor's skin that he could reach. They broke apart, panting, with their foreheads resting together. “Wow, who knew you were so into color coding?” Matt said with a breathless chuckle. 

Lotor shook his head and kissed Matt again, much more gently and briefly this time. “It's not the color coding.” He replied as he pulled away.

The look in Matt's eyes and the soft smile on his face made his chest ache with fondness. “Yeah, I know.” Matt pressed their lips together again. “You're gonna be late for work if you don't get dressed.” He reminded. 

Lotor sighed and stepped back to grab his towel. He laughed as Matt wolf-whistled at him. Heading back to the bedroom, he pulled on his suit and did up his tie, grabbing his phone from the rumpled sheets on the bed where he'd left it. “Am I taking you home or back to work for your…” He paused as Matt looked up in delight, waiting for him to say  _ scooter _ . “Abomination?” He finished with a scowl of mock-disgust. 

Matt pouted at him, but answered anyway. “Yeah, Shiro's working today so I'll be stranded at school if I don't go get it.” 

Lotor took his hand as they headed out for the elevator. It was becoming such an easy, familiar thing to grab Matt's hand as they walked anywhere lately. He squeezed gently and relished the smile it earned him. Lotor held the door for him again as they got to the car. 

Matt laughed as he buckled himself in. Lotor's cheeks went pink, knowing exactly what Matt was thinking about. He was, too. 

Their hands found each other again, resting easily together on the center console as Matt dozed against the window. The drive felt far too short and Lotor was reluctant to wake Matt up. He brought their joint hands to his mouth again in a brief kiss. “Matthew,” he whispered. “We're here.” 

Matt stirred and stretched, leaning over and pressing their lips together again. “Call me when you're off work?” He murmured as he pulled away. 

“Absolutely.” Lotor smiled as Matt got out of the car and walked over to the ridiculous Vespa. Lotor rolled down the window. “I hate that scooter.” He said, wrinkling his nose.

Matt grinned wide, hopping off and over to the open window for another kiss. “Thank you.” 

Matt's grin was infectious. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he’d laughed or smiled nearly as much as he had in the last 5 days. “Drive safely.” He called as Matt got back on. He shuddered at the thought of taking that thing on an actual road. Matt waved and honked his silly, high pitched horn as he drove off in the opposite direction. 

The drive to work was a pleasant one and he made it to his office with plenty of time to spare. He even found himself smiling as he sent email after email, made preparations for Friday's event, and sat through pointless meetings. Matt wasn't having the most productive day in class, Lotor guessed, as he debated StarCraft strategies back and forth while listening to someone prattle on about shareholders and release schedules and other such drivel he could just as easily have read off of a presentation in his office. 

He sat back in his chair and dismissed the intern that delivered his mediocre chicken caesar salad. He smiled down at his phone at another wall of text about the Protoss and all of their advantages, launching into his counter argument just as his door opened. He hit send quickly and looked up, not surprised to see Acxa standing there. 

“You're looking chipper today.” She said with a smirk as she took the seat across from his desk. 

He smiled back at her. “I had a lovely morning.” He sipped at his green tea with a sparkle in his eye as his phone buzzed on the table. 

Acxa shook her head and chuckled. “Please, spare me the details.” 

“I never kiss and tell.” He replied. 

She shook her head. “Allura will be here next week, she wants to meet you Thursday for dinner.” 

He took another sip and contemplated. “That's interesting, isn't it?” 

Acxa shrugged. “Maybe she wants neutral territory. It sounded like she doesn't hold her father's grudge, but it's hard to tell over the phone.” 

Lotor shot an eyebrow up in surprise. “She took your call herself?” 

“I was surprised, too. Her secretary patched me through immediately.” She looked out the window, noting the open blinds that he usually kept shut. 

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Very interesting. I suppose we'll find out next week.” His phone buzzed again. “Have you been able to find out anything about Alfor?” 

Acxa shook her head. “They’ve gone completely dark.” 

Lotor frowned and nodded. “Keep me apprised.” He picked up his phone and smiled at what he read on the screen. 

“I always do.” He didn't look up as she spoke. “I'm a little worried about your new… hobby. I think it's distracting you.” 

He looked up with another frown. “I'm not distracted. Everything's going better than I'd hoped.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Allura wouldn't fly all the way from London just to have a meeting with me, which means she's here for something else. Some _ one,  _ most probably.” Acxa’s forehead creased as she tried to follow his logic. “Who do we know who recently happened upon some very delicate information, who's probably looking for someone with more clout behind them before they make a move?” 

Her eyes widened and she wiped a hand across her mouth. “You couldn't possibly have known that would happen.” 

He smirked. “Couldn't I?” 

She narrowed her eyes and stood. “Alright, fine. Criticism rescinded.” 

They laughed together as she left, shutting the door behind him. He let out a hard puff of air. The truth was, he had gotten exceptionally lucky on several counts and hadn't been expecting any of them. Matt  _ had _ been a distraction, a deeply appreciated one, as he found himself backed further and further into a corner where it looked like a decent plea deal was his only option. But she didn't need to know that. 

He picked his phone back up and read the rest of Matt's message before typing a reply. “Alright. I concede just this once.” He smiled at the screen as the reply came right away. 

“The first of many! ;)” He hoped it was. 

He thought for a moment before responding. “I just got some excellent news and I think it justifies taking the afternoon off. When are you done for the day?” 

Matt sent back a flurry of exclamation points and emojis that Lotor didn't bother trying to decipher along with some actual words that brought another fond smile to his lips. “That's awesome! I should be home by 4!” 

“I'll meet you there.” He sent back without a second thought. It would make tomorrow a little bit more difficult, but hopefully by the end of next week it wouldn't matter. 

He spent the next few hours planning and researching for his meeting with Allura, with random interruptions to reply to Matt's impassioned texts. Just before he left, an intern dropped off the tailored tuxedo Matt would be wearing on Friday and the thought brought an extra spring to his step as he walked to his car. He drove a little faster than was strictly necessary to Matt's apartment. 

The hideous green scooter was already parked in Matt's usual spot as Lotor pulled around to the visitor's lot. Several people gave him confused looks as he passed by carrying a garment bag over his shoulder and wearing sunglasses worth more than most of the cars he'd parked near. He texted Matt to come let him in when he got to the main door. 

Matt smiled as he opened it. “Wow that was fast!” He said, gesturing to the bag. 

Lotor smiled and leaned down for a kiss as he stepped in. “People tend to work much more quickly when properly motivated.” 

Matt shook his head and laughed as he led the way upstairs. He was more than a little nervous for Lotor to see his apartment. He and Shiro weren't messy by any means, but it was much less luxurious than Lotor was used to. “Shiro's usually home by 5:30 if you wanna stick around to meet him?” Matt asked as he fiddled with his keys. 

Lotor shrugged. “That's fine if you'd like. I just wanted to see you, I'm not in a rush.” The admission slid too easily out of his mouth, but the smile and blush it earned him made it feel less like a vulnerability. 

“Well he's really cool and my best friend, so I want you guys to get along.” Matt finally finished unlocking the door and waved him inside. “Tadah!” He exclaimed as he shut the door and set his keys on the small table behind it. “I know it's not much, but…” 

Lotor looked around. The front door opened up into the kitchen, which opened up into the living room. There were two bean bag chairs, a large beat up sofa, and a modest sized entertainment center. The walls were filled with posters and photographs and a few holes signed “oops -k” in black sharpie. 

He grinned. It looked… cozy. “It's very you.” He said tactfully. 

Matt laughed. “Wow you can just say it's a dump!” He led Lotor down the small hallway to his bedroom. 

“It's not a dump. It’s got character.” He said with a laugh of his own as he put the garment bag down on Matt's bed. 

Matt shook his head as he started undressing. “That's just how nice people call something a dump.” 

Lotor looked around as Matt pulled the tux on. The desk was tidy, with a dry erase calendar hanging above it. Several dates were a different color and a lot of them had post it notes of various colors stuck to them as well. Pictures of Matt and his family or friends lined much of the walls not taken up by the desk or bed. He found himself wishing he could find a picture of his own face among the many cheap frames. 

“Ok how do I look?” He said as he twirled a bit. The cut was excellent and his measurements had been spot on.

Lotor smirked at him. “You look like you're going to get a lot of practice taking that off.” 

Matt laughed. “Turns out a fancy enough tux can turn anybody into eye candy.” He winked. 

Lotor couldn't help pulling him into a soft kiss. “I know that was a joke, but I just want to be sure you know that you're so much more than a pretty face to me.” 

Matt's cheeks turned pink again. “Good.” He whispered as he pressed their lips together again.

Lotor paused and pulled away as Matt untucked his shirt and roved his hands up under the hem. “I don't have the best success rate in removing your clothes without damaging them.” He answered to Matt's confused expression. 

Matt smiled and carefully removed the expensive ensemble and placed it back in the bag, hanging it up over his open closet door. He felt a little silly standing in his underwear while Lotor was dressed to the nines. “So uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck and gestured to the small twin-sized mattress on the cheap Ikea frame in the corner of the room. “We could head back to your place if you want, my bed’s kinda small.” 

Lotor laughed and shrugged his jacket off, tossing it over Matt’s desk chair. The familiar hoodie already draped over the arm made him smile. He laid down on the bed with his elbows behind him, supporting his torso as he fixed Matt with a come-hither look that had Matt’s mouth going dry. “This’ll do fine. We’ve spent the last week ruining my sheets, I think a little turnabout is fair play.” 

Matt crawled between his splayed legs and pushed him back onto the pillows with a heated kiss. “Can’t argue with that.” He said with a smirk before claiming Lotor’s mouth again. His fingers worked at the myriad buttons deftly, groaning as his hands hit the soft shirt underneath. “God, why are you wearing so many layers.” He panted out.

Lotor responded with another laugh as he sat up and pulled both shirts off, gently nudging Matt to the side so he could finish undressing completely. “Better?” He asked as he settled back against the sheets.

“Oh yeah,  _ much  _ better.” Matt said with a grin as he pulled off his boxers and resumed his previous position. 

Their heated skin slowly became sheened in sweat as they moved together unhurriedly, savoring the slow slide of their mouths. Lotor wrapped his long legs around Matt’s waist and shivered at the contact. He moaned into Matt's mouth as Matt slid a hand along the underside of his thigh. Matt kissed his way down Lotor's chin and neck and chest before pulling Lotor’s legs up over his shoulders and taking him into his mouth. 

Lotor groaned and buried a hand in Matt’s hair, the other fisting into the sheets as he craned his head to watch. Matt swallowed him expertly as he bobbed his head in a deeply satisfying rhythm. It was mesmerizing to watch his swollen lips move along the spit-slick skin. Too soon he had to still Matt’s movements with a hard clench of his fingers. 

Matt looked up with a wide grin as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stood without saying a word and rummaged in one of the drawers of his desk before heading back to the bed. He stood at the foot and waved a hand towards himself. “Come on, we have some testing to do.” He said with a wink. 

Lotor’s eyebrows perked up as he remembered their conversation from yesterday. He moved down to the edge of the bed and stole another kiss before turning over, feet planted wide apart and torso sprawled across the mattress. Matt leaned over him and placed a trail of open-mouthed kisses across his spine as he worked his slick fingers inside. Lotor keened as he pumped and twisted his wrist. It wasn’t enough. 

“Matthew,” he grunted into the sheets, “get on with it!” The barked command made Matt laugh quietly under his breath. He gently dragged his fingers free and hummed quietly in pleasure as he prepared himself. He slipped into Lotor slowly until they were pressed together from ankle to hip. Lotor hissed out a breathy  _ yes _ that had Matt’s wildly hammering heart threatening to burst from his chest. 

He gripped Lotor’s hips tightly as he began to move, setting a brutal pace that had both of them panting hard in moments. Matt’s spine tingled as he listened to Lotor’s quiet grunts and moans of pleasure; he’d become accustomed to Lotor being much quieter during their  _ activities _ and the change was a welcome one. With every snap of his hips, Lotor rocked back to meet him and the sound seemed to echo in the small room. 

Lotor shifted his feet and adjusted them to a slightly different angle, one that had Matt’s thighs screaming as he bent slightly in order to keep up their frantic cadence. Lotor’s moans cascaded into profanity-laden shouts interspersed with  _ Matthew _ as he tossed his head back and forth on the sheets. Matt let go of his hips and reached up to gather a bundle of rapidly-tangling hair. He twisted the strands around one wrist and pulled lightly as his other resumed the spot that seemed meant for it across Lotor’s sharp hip bone. 

“Come on, angel, come for me, I know you can.” He grunted out as he pulled Lotor’s head back a little less gently. With another broken shout of  _ Matthew _ he spilled himself across the sheets and clenched tightly. The sight in front of him as Lotor rested bonelessly against the sheets, upper half curled and twisted so their eyes could meet pushed Matt over the edge only moments later. 

He draped himself over Lotor’s sweaty and flushed back as they both caught their breath. He hummed happily as he crawled up the sheets to pressed a satiated kiss against Lotor’s lips. “I’d hold you, but I don’t think I can move my arms.” Lotor replied weakly, tired smile on his face. 

Matt chuckled and helped pull him the rest of the way up the small bed, resting Lotor’s head on his chest. The bed was barely large enough for one full-grown man to lay on comfortably, with both of them, their legs ended up tangled and Lotor was half on top of him as he smoothed the damp hair from his face. “Hmmm quick cat nap?” Matt asked, eyes already closed. Lotor’s only response was a brief press of his lips against Matt’s collarbone as he drifted off to sleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

Shiro walked in the door at just past 5:30, tired from the long day. He set his hat and keys on the little table behind the door as he slipped off his shoes. His eyebrows shot up as he saw Matt’s dirty sneakers next to a very expensive and  _ large _ pair of dress shoes. “Hey, Matt, I’m home!” He called as he headed past Matt’s door to his own room. 

“Uh… Don’t come in yet!” Came a frantic call from behind the door. 

Shiro paled a little. “Oh, yeah, no. I’m just gonna go to my room and change. And put on some headphones. With very loud music. For fun.” He stuttered at the door. Matt was very accomodating whenever Keith came by for  _ private time _ so it was the least he could do. 

He heard the sound of what was probably Matt falling out of bed. “No, it’s fine we’re uh…” Shiro dreaded the next word coming out of Matt’s mouth being  _ done _ . “We’ll be out in a minute.” He breathed a sigh of relief at Matt’s tactful rewording. 

He went to his own room and took off his uniform, hanging it carefully so he wouldn’t have to iron it again. He pulled on a t-shirt and some sweatpants in its stead and headed back out to the hallway. After a few minutes, Matt emerged wearing the ridiculously huge hoodie again, trailed by the ridiculously huge man to whom it belonged.

Shiro tried to contain his shock at seeing him, Keith had briefly mentioned bumping into him at the restaurant yesterday (“He seems ok. I get why Matt likes him.”) but the sight before him wasn’t at all what he was expecting. He held his hand out for a handshake and smiled. “Hey, I’m Shiro.” 

Lotor smiled and shook his hand, not blinking twice at the prosthetic. “It’s good to meet you, Matthew’s told me such good things. I’m Lotor.” 

Shiro tried not to balk at  _ Matthew _ and especially not at the way  _ Matthew’s  _ cheeks immediately turned bright red. “Likewise.” He choked out, hoping his plastered-on smile didn’t look as fake as it felt. They dropped hands and Shiro had to chuckle as he realized he had to look up at the taller man. “I’m really not used to having to look up at people. I don’t think I like this very much.” 

Lotor laughed, which Shiro was grateful for, he hadn’t realized how unflattering his statement was until it left his mouth. “I get that a lot.” 

Matt bounced up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Lotor’s cheek. “I don’t mind it so much.” He said with a wide grin. 

Shiro couldn’t help but smile as Lotor chuckled and looked down at Matt. The open affection in his gaze removed all doubt from Shiro’s mind that Matt wasn’t getting ahead of himself and falling too hard, too fast. It was obvious they both were. It made him want to call Keith. “Are you guys sticking around? I was about to order pizza.” 

Matt’s eyes lit up. “Yes! I’m so down for pizza. I didn’t realize I was starving until you said something.” 

Lotor and Shiro both laughed at Matt’s enthusiasm. “You wanna go to Donnie’s or suffer through Champ’s since they deliver?” Shiro asked as he pulled out his phone. 

Lotor interrupted Matt’s answer. “We had Donnie’s the other day and it was quite good. I can have someone bring it by, if you’d like.”    
  
Matt grinned up at him instead of answering. Shiro cleared his throat. “Oh, I mean, don’t feel obligated or anything, but that would be great.” He let out a forced, awkward laugh. 

Lotor waved a hand dismissively. “It’s no trouble at all, I insist.” He was already typing away at his phone. “Should be about half an hour.” 

Shiro and Matt both thanked him for taking care of dinner. They agreed to put a movie on and headed into the living room. Shiro settled into one of the oversized bean bags as Lotor and Matt took seats on the couch. It made Shiro smile again as Matt curled up against Lotor's side and rested his head on Lotor's shoulder. They flipped through Netflix and settled on  _ Rogue One _ after a few minutes of bickering. 

One of Shiro's least favorite things about his best friend was that he could never just  _ watch a movie.  _ He prattled on about weird things in the background, which scientific mumbo jumbo was completely impossible, how badass or hot certain characters were, just… everything. He never stopped talking. 

Lotor apparently shared that trait. They carried on spirited debates spanning the entire Star Wars EU (including all the video games and books, which Lotor had also apparently read/played) and Shiro was ready to scream by the time the pizza arrived. They paused the movie as Lotor headed down to get it when his PA called from the main apartment door. 

Shiro looked up at Matt and shook his head. “You guys are gross.” He said with a smile.

“Right? He's perfect.” Matt answered without messing a beat. 

Shiro laughed. “I'm happy for you man, you guys seem good together.” He had to admit that they were having a ball, even if he wanted to pull his hair out. At least they didn't mind the captions being on, so he half a hope of following the story around their jabbering. 

“Thanks, that means a lot.” Matt replied with a moonstruck grin. 

Lotor came back in and set the pizza on the coffee table for everyone to grab. It was a lot quieter with everyone's mouths full. “No Keith tonight?” Matt asked around a bite of his slice. 

Shiro sighed. “No, he’s studying for finals. Apparently I’m too distracting.” It was always a little funny for Matt to see his huge, burly best friend actually  _ pouting _ . 

Lotor laughed quietly as he looked at Matt pointedly. “Ok, listen.” Matt started, using his pizza to point at Lotor. “I have one actual test, my other two finals are papers that I’m already mostly finished with, so you can keep your saucy looks to yourself.”

“If you’re sure…” Lotor replied, a hint of mirth in his voice and a smirk on his face. Matt leaned back against the couch and crossed his non-pizza arm over his chest. “What?” Lotor asked as he huffed a little. 

Matt glared. “We might be fighting. This might be our first fight.” 

Shiro watched with interest, it was always hard to tell if Matt was actually serious since it happened so rarely. Lotor took the half eaten slice of pizza out of his hand and put it back in box along with his own. “No, I think not.” He answered, turning to look at Matt.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Matt retorted, fully crossing his arms now that his hands were free.

It didn’t last long, Lotor coaxed his hands out from under his elbows and held them gently. “Because, our first fight has got to be about your awful scooter.” His face and his voice were measured and serious as he looked Matt in the eye. 

Shiro was a little concerned that they were actually going to fight for a long moment, until Matt finally broke out into a burst of laughter. “You love my scooter!” He pushed a hand into Lotor’s face. 

Lotor grabbed it and pressed a soft kiss over his knuckles. “I don’t.” He said, shaking his head. “I truly hate it.” 

Matt leaned forward and kissed him lightly once. “No you don’t.” Matt whispered bumping their noses together. “But I probably should study tomorrow.” He grabbed their pieces of pizza from the table again.

“Yes, you should. And I should stop leaving work at 4:00 before Acxa decides to shoot me.” He replied with a smile as he took his slice from Matt and had another bite.

Argument thoroughly quelled, they settled back into the couch leaning against each other as they ate. Shiro took out his phone after he finished his slice. “Matt's new bf gets a passing grade. They're almost as gross as us.” He sent to Keith. 

The reply came a few minutes later. “Not possible. I'm challenging him to single combat. Swords at dawn.” Shiro laughed aloud as he read the message, quickly apologizing to the couple on the couch. 

“Baby, that's a little much. I said almost.” He smiled at the screen as he hit send. 

Matt looked over at him and laughed. “Aww, he's texting Keith. Look at his dorky grin.” 

Shiro threw a pillow at him. “You've been wearing a sweater dress all day, Holt. You can shut it!” There was little force behind Shiro's throw and no malice in his voice. 

Lotor caught the pillow before it could lightly smack Matt in the face. “My hero!” Matt said dramatically. 

“He is right, you know. Just so we're clear.” Lotor grinned at Matt's affronted look. 

He grabbed at the pillow and they tussled light-heartedly for a moment before he gave up. “Psh you're a bully.”

“Well you're a brat.” Lotor answered smugly. All three of them laughed together. 

It took half an hour longer than the runtime of the movie to actually make it through with the various interruptions, but they finally managed. Lotor stood with a stretch and reached for Matt's hand. “Well, darling, I'd better be off. Are you planning on staying here tonight?” Matt looked up at him with an adoring gaze that might have been more appropriately fixed upon a gaggle of ducklings than a fully grown man. “You're very expressive tonight.” Lotor teased. 

Matt blushed and smiled shyly at him. “You've never called me that before.” Shiro stayed very still and very quiet, trying his best to stay forgotten as they spoke. 

“Oh. I suppose I haven't.” Lotor blushed as well. “It just slipped out.”

Matt smiled wider. “I like it.” 

Lotor's reply was so quiet Shiro barely heard it. “Good.” He leaned down and cupped the side of Matt's face, kissing him softly.

Shiro took a picture. He couldn't not. Colleen would kill him for missing such a tender moment. “Shiro! What the hell?” Matt shrieked. He'd left the shutter sound on.

Matt launched himself at Shiro's torso for the phone. Even after his late growth spurt at the tail end of highschool, Shiro still had several inches on him and all he had to do was raise his hand in the air to prevent Matt's access. “You love pictures!” Shiro protested. “I'm gonna send it to you, hang on.” 

Matt looked back at Lotor in trepidation. He 

shrugged with a light chuckle. Matt got out his phone to wait for the message to go through and grinned when he saw it. “Ok this is actually a really good one.” He showed Lotor with a smile. Lotor nodded. 

“You're welcome!” Shiro said, pretending to be grumpy. “I'm off to bed. Night, guys.” His tone was much more friendly as he walked to his room and shut the door. They both replied with well wishes for his evening as he passed. 

Alone in the living room again, Lotor looked back at Matt expectantly. “Do you mind if go with? I have work tomorrow and I should actually do school work again at some point.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck as he chuckled. 

Lotor smiled. “Not at all. I was hoping you would, in fact.” His response made Matt beam. Their hands were clasped as they walked back to Lotor's car. 

“You know, I've had the most dreadful time driving since the other night. I think you may have ruined this car for me.” He said with a chuckle as he pulled out of the parking lot. 

Matt laughed. “Nah that just means you'll be thinking about me whenever you drive it.” He replied with a smug grin. 

Lotor blushed a little as he laughed in turn. “I've thought of little else for almost a week now.” He reached for Matt's hand and gave it a light squeeze.

Matt stared at the side of his head, floundering for a while. It wasn't the first openly affectionate thing he'd shared, but it might have been the most direct. Matt's reaction made him wonder if he should have kept the thought to himself. He stayed uncharacteristically quiet as they made their way up to Lotor’s apartment from the garage and made no move to take his hand. 

The anxiety that had been quietly gnawing at him dissipated as soon as they got through the door and Matt’s arms slung around his shoulders, pulling him into a kiss. They broke apart just enough for Matt to move his head, placing a gentle kiss to Lotor’s cheek. “I haven’t been able to think of anything but you either.” He admitted quietly, nuzzling into the pressed collar at Lotor’s throat. 

He didn’t know how to reply with words, so he didn’t try. Instead, he grabbed the back of Matt’s thighs and hoisted him up to wrap his legs around Lotor’s waist. Their lips found each other again as Lotor walked them to the bedroom.

They made quick work of their clothes and Matt expected the pace to stay frenzied, but Lotor took his time pressing kisses into every spot he'd learned would earn him a sharp gasp or content sigh. Long fingers worked him open until he was panting and rocking in time with every flick of Lotor's wrist. “I could watch you like this for hours.” He whispered against Matt's lips. 

Matt groaned. “I think I might die.” He replied with a short laugh. “Please, I want you.” He murmured breathlessly with half-closed eyes. 

Lotor took a small amount of pity on him and slipped his fingers out. Matt gasped under his breath as Lotor slid in slowly. He locked his ankles around Lotor's waist and keened as he bottomed out, their hips grinding together in a deeply satisfying slide of skin. 

The pace stayed slow as they rocked together. Matt buried his face into the crook of Lotor's neck and moaned softly in time with each deep thrust. He was sure he could have sped things up if he moved his own hips faster or asked for it, but the feeling of the slow, steady drag was mesmerizing. “Fuck, you feel so good.” He groaned as he peppered kisses along any skin he could reach. 

He was half glad and half disappointed when his only reply was a shuddery moan and a hand pressing him back into the mattress. He didn't have long to consider it as his mouth was plundered in a frustratingly languid kiss that had him even more desperate. His hips were aching and he felt taut like a bowstring across his whole body. 

Lotor slipped a hand between them and smiled as Matt broke their kiss with a harsh cry as he pulled up and down, still achingly slowly. “How close are you?” He whispered along Matt's chin as he trailed his lips along the fine edge of Matt's jaw. 

Tears pricked his eyes and his head filled with static. “I don't know.” He groaned and shook his head. 

Lotor sped his hips up just slightly, still not quite enough. His hand matched the new pace. “How about now?” He asked again as he ran Matt's earlobe lightly between his teeth. A strangled sob slipped from Matt's lips as he jerked his hips, trying to coax Lotor into moving faster. Lotor hummed in disappointment. “I think my way is more fun.” He lightly chastised, sucking another mark into Matt's collarbone. 

Matt's world narrowed down to a single point. “Please, please, please.” It became a frantic mantra he couldn't keep his mouth from spilling. 

Lotor kissed him deeply before grabbing one of his legs and tossing it over his shoulder. Matt's leg burned with the stretch but the added depth had him moaning in pleasure despite the discomfort. He came with a broken sob of Lotor's name and clamped his eyes shut tight as he waited for Lotor to finish as well. 

He still hadn't opened them a few minutes after Lotor had rolled off with a sigh and a kiss. He rubbed their cheeks together softly. “Matthew, are you alright?” He whispered quietly. 

Matt groaned. “Fuck, that was so good. My brain still hasn't caught up yet.” Lotor chuckled quietly and pressed a kiss to each clenched eyelid before doing his best to clean them both up. Eventually Matt's eyes opened and he followed Lotor up to rest properly on the bed again. 

“How grossed out was your housekeeper?” He asked after a long moment, back pressed to Lotor's still heated chest. 

Lotor chuckled. “He was tactful about the mess. I tipped well.” They both laughed together softly before falling asleep.

The morning came early and they were both reluctant to leave the comfort of a warm bed and each other’s arms. A quick shower was all the time they could spare and they both savored it. 

The day went by slowly for both of them as Matt tried to focus on his studies and Lotor on his work. They agreed to keep the texting to a minimum, but neither one was very good at it until Matt had to go to work and leave his phone in his locker. 

Lotor had left the office at 7, deciding to work from the comfort of his desk at home as opposed to the slightly less comfortable one in his office. Ditching work to spend time with Matt was always fun, but he was not enjoying the time spent paying the piper now that it'd come due.

It was almost midnight when his phone finally rang. He still wasn’t quite finished with everything he’d been hoping for, but Matt was off work now and he’d been looking forward to the call all evening. “How was work?” He answered with a smile as he saved the documents he’d been working on. 

The single-worded strangled reply of “Awful” had him pulling the reading glasses off his nose and looking for his car keys immediately. “What happened?” His voice was laced with concern as he slipped on his shoes. Matt made a few disgruntled noises in lieu of a reply. “Are you at home? I’ll come get you.” His stomach roiled with worry. 

“No!” The clipped reply had him pausing at his door. “No, sorry. I’m ok. It’s just.” He sighed loudly into the speaker. “We need to talk about this and if you come over I won’t be able to, so you shouldn’t.” 

Lotor walked to his bedroom and sat down on the bed, not bothering to turn the lights on. “What is it?” His voice sounded more than a little pathetic, even to his own ears. 

He heard Matt take another deep breath. “The guys at work laid into me pretty hard about us and it sucked and I’m really mad.” He heard shuffling as Matt apparently turned in his bed before continuing. “Normally I’m all for jokes and stuff but it’s too much.” His voice broke as he finished speaking. 

“Matthew,” Lotor whispered in what he hoped was a comforting tone, “what did they say?” 

Matt groaned in frustration. “They kept calling you my… ugh. I don’t even want to say it.” 

Lotor frowned. He wasn’t sure what to expect the thought to end with. “I think we’ll both feel better if you talk about it.” 

Matt’s voice came in muffled as if he’d smushed his face into his pillow. “They kept calling you my... Daddy.” 

Lotor wrinkled his nose.  _ This again. _ The word left a bad taste in his mouth and he hadn’t even been the one to say it. “Why does that bother you so much?” He wanted to jump onboard Matt’s outrage but the second appearance of the… endearment… had him concerned. 

“Uh, because it’s super weird?” Matt exclaimed, voice cracking a bit.

He hummed in thought. “Is it? I thought it was quite common.” Matt's only answer was another groan. Lotor sighed. “I could send Zethrid to threaten them.” He offered with a forced laugh.

Silence answered him. He couldn't even hear Matt breathing. He pulled the phone away from his ear to check the screen, making sure Matt hadn't hung up. “That was not the time for such a distasteful joke, I'm sorry if I've upset you.” He said quietly after a long moment. 

“Maybe…” Matt whispered after what felt like an eternity. “Maybe we could...” Came louder. Lotor's eyes narrowed. He didn't like where this was going. “If we tried it and it sucked maybe it wouldn't bug me so much anymore.” 

Lotor sighed again. “I'm prepared to suspend my misgivings about the whole thing if you think it'll make you feel better.” He relented. 

The other end of the line went quiet again. “It'll probably be weird and gross and then we can forget the whole thing.” Matt finally rushed out. 

“Agreed.” Lotor gritted out. Hopefully Matt would think it through and decide against it after a good night's sleep. They chatted much more pleasantly about their plans for the following evening and a few trivialities before Matt eventually fell asleep still on the phone. 

Lotor briefly entertained the idea of leaving the call running through the night, but thought better of it after a few moments. He whispered a soft good night before hanging up and heading to bed himself. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took 1000 years OTL

Lotor finally woke up after snoozing his alarm twice and saw the message he'd missed from Matt sometime in the middle of the night. “Sorry for falling asleep on you. Can't wait to see you tomorrow <3” It brought a smile to his tired lips right away.

He decided to skip the gym yet again, resolving to go on Monday no matter what, and took another long, steaming shower. He had to admit that he was a little excited to show Matt off a bit that night. It would certainly make the evening much more enjoyable than most of the events he went to.

His mind wandered a bit, imagining just the two of them on a yacht far out at sea. Matt would insist on wearing a silly Captain's hat and they'd dance together under the stars. He heard his phone ringing from the bedroom and sighed as he turned off the water and dried his hands as he plodded, still dripping, over to where it was charging. One of his assistants was calling to double check the day's schedule and confirm his plus one.

Lotor tried not to be offended as he ended the call. It's not as though he _never_ brought a guest to these types of events, they just usually happened to be business associates and not lovers. He stepped back into the shower to quickly rinse the rest of the conditioner out of his hair as he mused on the term. _Lovers_ seemed a bit premature. He shook his head to clear his mind of the thought.

He dressed quickly and texted his favorite assistant to get him something especially strong in the caffeine department. She always knew what he liked. Maybe he'd give her his job when he took over the company. He replied to Matt's message as he drove to work with the car on autopilot, typing and retyping far too many times. “You seemed exhausted, it was good to know you were sleeping soundly. I'll pick you up at 6 <3”

He warred internally over including the heart before finally just hitting send. 6 would give them plenty of time to get distracted, redressed, and head to the docks fashionably late. He just had to make it through the day first.

..

All Matt had on his agenda for the day was working on his final papers so he let himself sleep in a little. He finally crawled out of bed at 9, smiling at his phone. “Better make it 5 ;)” he replied with a grin. He was all sorts of excited to see Lotor in what was sure to be an absolutely dehydration-inducing outfit for the evening, and even more excited about the prospect of talking him into dancing.

Normally dancing was Matt's go-to first date plan, but he and Lotor hadn't been following his typical pattern at all. Noting how all of his previous relationships had panned out, he figured it was for the best. His phone pinged while be was brushing his teeth and he read the message eagerly. “5:30, that's the best I can do.” He smiled and rinsed out his mouth.

His phone pinged again before he could reply. “Will you send me that photo Shiro took of us? This meeting might kill me.” Matt laughed as he forwarded the picture. He debated for a moment before setting it as his new background image.

They texted sporadically throughout the day as Matt compiled research and had to look up proper MLA citations a thousand times. He couldn't wait until it was time to start getting ready. The day seemed to fly by as he added graph after beautiful graph to his paper. Iverson was going to be damned impressed with this one.

Keith came in at 5, Shiro having given him a key almost a year ago. He paused by Matt's open door on his way to Shiro's room and chuckled at him, still hunched over his computer in his pjs. “Aren't you supposed to be on a boat?” He asked with a teasing smile.

“Oh shit, I gotta shower!” Matt exclaimed as he looked at the clock. “If Lotor calls, can you go let him in? I completely lost track of time. Keith laughed and agreed, taking Matt's phone into the living room with him instead of immediately flopping down on Shiro's bed for a nap.

Matt’s phone rang right as the shower switched off and Keith answered it with a gruff “Hello?” No one answered for a brief moment.

“I’m sorry, I must have dialed a wrong number.” The smooth voice on the other end of the line finally answered.

Keith craned his head to the bathroom, hoping Matt would come out to save him from this awkward conversation. “Uh, no. This is Matt’s phone. He’s getting ready.”

Another pause before the answer came. “Oh, I see. Well I’m at the door whenever he’s available.”

“I’ll just come let you in.” Keith said and hung up the phone. He briefly wondered if he should have said goodbye or stayed on the line, but figured it would be fine in a minute anyway.

He headed down the stairs and opened the main door for Lotor. “Thank you.” He said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Keith hardly noticed as he brushed past him and up the stairs. He’d only gotten a brief glimpse the other night, but the full picture in broad daylight was something else. He shook his head as they walked back into the apartment, wondering what Matt could have done to snag someone like _that._ “Do you mind if I wait in Matthew’s room?” Lotor asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

Keith smirked at _Matthew_. Shiro had told him, of course, but it was still odd to hear it out loud. He was only Matthew when he was in trouble. “Go right ahead.” He answered. “Oh wait, take this.” Keith remembered the phone Matt had handed him earlier and gave it to Lotor. He didn’t wait for an answer before disappearing into Shiro’s room.

Lotor headed into Matt’s room and sat on his bed. It wasn’t difficult to guess the password to unlock the screen, it was smudged in a very particular pattern that wouldn’t have come from normal use. He’d intended to put something ridiculous as Matt’s lockscreen and wait for him to notice later as a joke but stopped short when he saw the picture. He looked down at it and smiled fondly. He fumbled with the phone as Matt opened the door and grinned at him, wearing just a towel. “Hey are you snooping?” Matt asked, seeing the device in his hand with an exaggerated cringe. “I can explain the 11 gigs of memes, I swear.” Lotor laughed and stood up to pull Matt into a bruising kiss. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” He asked, a little daze.

Lotor’s cheeks darkened with blush. “I was going to change your background to Zerg propaganda before I saw what it was.” He answered quietly and pulled out his own phone, turning it show Matt that it was the same one.

Matt beamed and kissed him softly. “We should take more pictures together.” He said with a laugh, turning to his closet to get dressed. Lotor watched fondly as he pulled on the tuxedo. “Should I bother with the tie or am I just going to have to redo it in like half an hour?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Lotor smiled. “Both.” He replied with a glint in his eye that had Matt blushing. He murmured out an agreement before deftly looping the bowtie into shape. Lotor finally stepped forward and smoothed out the shoulders before leaning down and kissing him again. “Let’s head back to my apartment so I can change.” He whispered against Matt’s lips.

The dizzy smile on Matt’s face was contagious. “Sure.” He replied holding out his arm for Lotor to lead the way.

Shiro walked in the door as they were pulling their shoes on. “Wait, hold on.” He pulled out his phone. “You guys have to pose.”

Matt frowned. “We’re not going to _prom_ , Shiro.” He grumbled.

“We both know your mom will uninvite me to Thanksgiving dinner if I don’t get a picture of you dressed like that. I’m not missing out on that mac and cheese, Matt. Pose.” He demanded.

Lotor laughed and stood with his chest to Matt’s back, arms looped over his shoulders. Matt looked up at him and smiled as he wrapped his hands around Lotor’s forearms. Shiro took several pictures by the time they’d both looked at the camera and smiled. “Ok, that should be enough. Go have fun!” He smiled at them and headed into his bedroom with a wave.

They walked down to Lotor’s car hand in hand, getting several appreciative looks from passersby as they went. Lotor held the door open for Matt and pressed a kiss to his lips as he sat down before heading to his own side. Lotor turned the autopilot on and looked over at him with a shy smile. “Thank you again, for agreeing to come tonight. It’s very important to me.”

Matt squeezed his hand and smiled. “No problem! Hopefully I won’t embarrass us.” He said with an awkward laugh.

Lotor pulled their hands up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “I’m sure you won’t.”

They chatted about their day as they drove. Lotor had been bored to tears in all of his meetings, but had finally submitted a very important report that was well received by his father for once. It had made him instantly suspicious and put him on edge, but he left that part out of the story. Matt shared his own success, a 98% on the lab practical he’d taken last week, an unheard of score in one of Dr. Slav’s courses. Once at the garage, they headed inside, fingers still laced together.  

As soon as the door closed behind them Matt turned and lifted his chin with a smile. Lotor was powerless to resist the wordless request and ducked his head to press their lips together. Matt slipped his arms around Lotor’s neck and slid one hand into the soft strands of Lotor’s hair, cupping the back of his head and bringing them closer. They shuffled together to the bedroom, unwilling to break the kiss to walk the short distance.

Matt’s tie was the first casualty, ending up wrinkled on the floor before the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed. Lotor’s familiar weight pressed him into the mattress and their hips rocked together as they kissed. Before things could get any farther, Lotor’s phone rang in his pocket. He fished it out, swearing as he saw the name on the screen. “I’m sorry, I really need to take this.”

Matt smiled a lopsided grin at him. “No worries, I can just take care of things myself.” He winked.

Lotor’s eyebrows shot up. “You better not.” He playfully threatened, leaving the bedroom to answer the call.

He didn’t want to eavesdrop, fearing what he might overhear, so he carefully pulled off his outfit and hung it up in Lotor’s closet for safekeeping until they were ready to leave. He wasn’t sure where Lotor would want him when he was finished on the phone, so he laid down at the edge of the bed on his back, knees bent and feet on the floor. He took himself in hand as he heard only the deep rumbles of Lotor’s voice from the other room, unable to make out any words.

They were far beyond any kind of shame, despite their romance being so new. Matt was looking forward to seeing Lotor’s reaction when he walked back in. He stroked himself slowly as he waited, losing himself in the fantasy of what they’d do before they left for their night out. His heart sped up until he could only hear the blood rushing in his ears.

Matt didn't notice Lotor hanging up the phone or walking back into the bedroom until he felt hands on his knees. His own hand stilled and he opened his eyes. Lotor smirked at him. “You aren't very good at following directions.” He teased.

“Well your instructions weren't that clear. I didn't _finish_ without you.” He protested with a grin.

Lotor batted his hand away and knelt at the foot of the bed, taking Matt in hand and licking a teasing, feather-light stripe up his length. Matt let out a shuddery breath as Lotor squeezed lightly and gave a few more delicate licks before taking him properly into his mouth.

The sight of Lotor on his knees in front of him never failed to awaken something primal in Matt. He ran his fingers through Lotor's hair and curled his hand into a fist around it so he could watch. Half-lidded eyes looked up into his and he couldn't hold back a moan. His own eyes slid shut and he laid back down against the mattress.

Lotor hummed around the thick length in his mouth and allowed himself a few moments to savor the feeling, pulling away with one last trail of his tongue. Before Matt had a chance to open his eyes to ask why he'd stopped, Lotor pushed his thighs upwards, nearly bending Matt in half. “Be good and hold these here for me.” He said in a low, gravelly voice.

Matt nodded, eyes wide, and grabbed the backs of his knees, pulling them almost level with his ears. His face flushed a deep red as Lotor stared admiringly. “I never knew you could bend like that. I'll have to keep it in mind.” Matt's only answer was a whimper as Lotor blew lightly against his entrance.

He ran his tongue across it once before probing inside. He licked in small spirals, gently widening for a while before he pulled away for a moment to slip his own finger in his mouth, wetting it. Matt's eyes were squeezed tightly shut in anticipation. He cried out as Lotor pushed the digit inside, following it with his tongue again.

It felt like days had gone by before Lotor pushed another finger inside with the first, still working his mouth and tongue around and in between them as he stretched Matt slowly and thoroughly. A puddle had begun to form on his chest and run down his side. He wasn't sure if it was heaven or hell.

He decided quickly that it was definitely hell as Lotor pulled his mouth away and gently slipped his fingers out, popping them into his own mouth as he stood and walked towards the bathroom. “Wha-?” Matt said in a daze. “Wait, where are you going?” He asked in disbelief.

Lotor smirked and lowered his hand to his side. “I need to have a shower, it's almost time to go.” Matt followed him and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You're joking right?” He gaped as he watched Lotor turn on the water and start undressing.

Lotor didn't spare him a glance as he stepped under the hot water. “Consider it motivation for following my directions next time.” He lathered shampoo into his hair before continuing. “Perhaps tonight will be a different story if you keep that in mind.”

Matt licked his lips as he watched Lotor quickly finish cleaning himself up. He would have considered himself a pretty vanilla guy before all this, sure he'd _done_ some things, but that was mostly just to try it or to satisfy a partner. This new development of _obeying instructions_ had him excited in ways he'd really not been prepared for.

Matt kept staring as Lotor stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off. He let himself be led backwards until he felt the wall behind him. Lotor ducked his head and kissed him sweetly, no urgency behind it. “I'm sorry.” He whispered. “Just think of how much fun we'll have when we get back.” He punctuated with a nip to Matt's ear as he moved past him to blow dry his hair. He was looking forward to spending the evening out with Lotor, but at that, he was even moreso looking forward to coming back at the end of the night.

Blinking the daze from his eyes, he stumbled into Lotor's room and grabbed his tux from the closet, smoothing it out as he put it back on. Lotor emerged from the bathroom, hair dry, brushed and held at the nape of his neck with an elastic. Matt smiled at the sight. “I like it when you wear your hair up.”

Lotor's cheeks flushed faintly and he pressed a kiss to Matt's cheek on his way to get dressed. Matt's jaw dropped when he stepped out. “No. Nope. We're gonna be late. I can't deal with this.” He said, shaking his head. Lotor laughed and walked up to him, straightening his tie again.

“You can.” He assured, pressing another kiss to Matt's forehead. “And we should probably get going.” He added, turning his wrist and frowning at the time. Between traffic and his petulance, they'd spent far too much time getting ready.

With a bit more coaxing, they were out the door and into the parking garage. Lotor ushered Matt into the back of an expensive-looking black car who's brand he couldn't begin to guess. “What, no limo this time?” He asked sarcastically.

Lotor smiled and squeezed his hand. “No, I was showing off last week. I don't actually use the limo much.” Matt laughed and snuggled into his side. Neither of them gave the wrinkles a second thought.

Pulling up to the dock was a new experience for Matt. His dad had a beat up old pontoon boat parked at a marina in the middle of a tourist trap, but at this wharf all of the boats (yachts, he reminded himself) were nicer than his house. “I was gonna say, I feel like we're about to walk onto the red carpet, but there is literally a red carpet there.” He gulped audibly.

Lotor ran the back of his hand across Matt's cheek. “There's no need to be nervous, love. Just follow my lead.” He pressed his lips gently to Matt's and got out of the car, walking around to open the door for him. “Take my arm.” He whispered as Matt stood up. He looped his hand around the elbow Lotor offered. “Don't mind the cameras, you're doing fine.” He tried to smile at the words of comfort.

In truth, he hadn't noticed the cameras until Lotor had mentioned them and suddenly felt entirely out of place. He fixed his gaze on Lotor instead as they walked. “Please tell me there's booze here.” He whispered with a nervous chuckle.

Lotor laughed and lowered his arm, taking Matt's hand and squeezing once. “Yes, there will be plenty.” Neither’s smile faded as they were ushered to their seats on the elegant dining deck. As promised, a young woman in a beautiful, sparkling, form-fitting dress walked by and left two glasses of champagne on their table.

Matt picked his up and sipped slowly, tamping down the desire to drink it like a shot. “Man, I'm really glad I don't have to wear _that_ to work.” He said with a grin in Lotor's direction.

Lotor frowned and looked between the waitress and Matt for a moment. “I don't know, I think it would be a good look for you.” He couldn't keep the straight face up for long at Matt's bewildered expression, and soon they were laughing together again.

Acxa and Ezor made their way to the table and sat down with little preamble, Acxa on Lotor's left and Ezor to Matt's right. “Mattikins! So glad you could join us.” Ezor beamed, pinching his cheek. He slapped her hand away and grumbled.

“Children, please. Don't embarrass Mommy and Daddy at work.” Acxa deadpanned. Matt's cheeks went bright red and Lotor held back a sigh as the hand in his clamped down like a vice. He ran his thumb reassuringly over Matt's knuckles.

Ezor pulled out her phone and distracted herself at Acxa’s warning. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Acxa asked quietly, eyes locked on Lotor.

Lotor did sigh at that. “Entirely.” He replied. Matt wasn't completely sure, but he had a feeling they meant him. He didn't know how to feel about it.

The room filled and the lights dimmed after a few moments. A man on the stage at the back of the room thanked everyone for coming and launched into a speech about the charity they were there in support of. Zethrid slumped in quietly next to Ezor as he spoke.

The speech went on, and Matt grew distracted. Lotor regarded the man with interest, appearing to hang on his every word. Matt squeezed his hand again and smiled at him when he looked over. The intensity in Lotor's eyes melted and he leaned to press a soft kiss to Matt's cheek. They both blushed as they turned back to hear the end of the speech.

As everyone else, Matt included, clapped, Lotor turned back to the three women at the table, holding up his glass. They held each of theirs up as well, all seemingly at a loss for words. Acxa finally spoke up quietly. “For Narti.” The others repeated her and clinked glasses, sipping quietly for a moment even in the suddenly buzzing room.

“Who's Narti?” Matt whispered as all of them lowered their glasses again.

Lotor smiled sadly at him. “She was a dear friend. She's no longer with us.” He reached over and put a hand on Acxa's shoulder as he spoke.

Matt brought a hand to his mouth. “I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked.” Lotor licked his bottom lip and took a breath like he was about to speak, but didn't get the chance.

“It's fine.” Zethrid grunted out. “You didn't know.” Ezor turned to her and tucked a lock of wild hair behind her ear. “I gotta get back to work.” She batted Ezor's hand away, but leaned in to kiss her cheek as she stood to leave.

An awkward silence filled the table and Matt stared down at his lap. He wanted to take Lotor's hand again, but it was resting on the table and he wasn't sure Lotor would want him to. Acxa groaned and flitted her eyes around the room. “6 o’clock.” She muttered, draining her glass.

Lotor sighed and picked his up as well. “Tell the worst joke you know.” He looked at Matt pleadingly.

Comforting people through loss wasn't Matt's strongest suit, but terrible jokes were. “Ok uh, why couldn't Bach get a new harpsichord?” He asked the group. Three sets of unamused eyes stared at him. “He was _baroque_.” He finished with a tentative smile.

Ezor dissolved into a puddle of giggles next to him and Acxa snorted before covering her mouth with her hand. Lotor looked at him fondly and let out a genuine laugh that had Matt grinning. A gruff voice behind them interrupted their revelry. “Lotor.”

Lotor rolled his eyes before turning around. “Sendak, the foundation thanks you for your generosity.” Matt tried hard not to laugh at the greeting, it was by far the classiest way he'd ever heard _I wish you weren't here_ phrased.

“I'm sure it does.” He replied. Matt felt horrible for the poor girl on his arm, she looked bored and scared in equal measure. “I trust you haven't forgotten about our meeting tomorrow?” Matt swallowed at his harsh voice, he didn't understand how Lotor could be so calm under the crushing glare.

But he was calm. He even smiled. “Oh, I'm afraid we'll have to reschedule.” He looked over at Matt fondly. “I'll be... occupied tomorrow.” The look on his face was ostensibly apologetic, but it didn't at all reach his eyes.

Sendak glared. “No matter. Your father and I don't need you there.” It came out as a thinly veiled threat.

Lotor took a sip from his mostly empty glass. “Ah, good. I'm glad it works out for everyone.” He replied jovially. Matt's stomach hurt just from watching the interaction. “Why don't you go take Sarah for a dance?” He gestured towards the mostly empty dance floor. The music was so quiet Matt hadn't even noticed it.

“It's Cindy, actually.” She said, eyeing Lotor in a way that made Matt feel even more uncomfortable.

Lotor took another drink, finishing the bubbly liquid inside. “Ah, my apologies.” He looked up at Sendak in barely-concealed disgust. “Sarah must have been last week.” She looked affronted at the suggestion and stared at Sendak, appalled. He glared down at Lotor and pulled her by the arm she had laced with his towards another table.

Lotor sighed and took the glass Ezor offered him, draining half of it in one go. Matt felt like he had whiplash from the sudden change in Lotor's expression. “Do you think that worked?” He suddenly looked tired and a little scared.

Acxa feigned a stretch and craned her head. “He's fighting with his flavor of the week now, so he'll be out of our hair for a little while.” She scanned the room. “No suitable distractions, though.” Lotor frowned.

“Oh I can make a distraction.” Ezor said with a grin. “Zethrid’s on security though, so which one of you dweebs is gonna dance with me?” Her eyes glinted mischievously.

Lotor rolled his eyes and Acxa paled. “What kind of dancing? Because if it's swing, I'm just the dweeb you're looking for.” Matt answered enthusiastically.

She held out her hand and giggled. “Well let's see what you got then, kid.” He took her hand and they laughed as they made their way to the DJ at the back of the room.

An upbeat melody started and Lotor watched in fascination as they prepared themselves for the dance. They stood facing each other about an arm's length apart, holding one another's hands in between their bodies. The dance floor was still almost empty as they started to twist and move to the song. Lotor's eyebrows shot up as they twirled and their feet moved almost too fast to follow. His eyes stayed locked on Matt’s smiling face as they spun.

It was mesmerizing, watching the two of them. His heart swelled with fondness and nagged at him with regret in equal measure. He knew he had no hope of matching Ezor’s grace or practiced skill, but it was hard for him to stay in his seat as they moved together.

It was only 3 or 4 minutes at most, but it felt like a lifetime. Lotor felt like he could have gladly watched Matt dance for a lifetime. Their finale had Ezor rolling over Matt's stooped shoulders, Matt catching her on the other side in a dramatic dip just as the song came to a close. A few amused couples around them clapped politely as more people filed onto the floor at the display.

Lotor flagged down another server and grabbed two more glasses of champagne, meeting Matt part of the way back from their table. “That was quite entertaining.” He said as he handed Matt the glass.

Matt grinned and took a sip. “Yeah well, my sister and I didn't win first place in the Junior’s division of Swing California because we were so cute.” He punctuated with a wink.

Lotor hummed thoughtfully. “Well I'm sure it didn't hurt.” He brushed a lock of hair out of Matt's eyes. The previously carefully-styled strands fluffed from his surprisingly athletic display. He very acutely regretted his decision to tease Matt earlier and it must have shown in his eyes as Matt smirked up at him.

“Oh now you wanna be like that.” His eyes danced with mirth and Lotor flushed.

He coughed lightly into his free hand. “Well, I may not have made the most prudent use of our time earlier.” He admitted playfully.

“There’s gotta be a bathroom around here somewhere right?” Matt asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Lotor laughed and leaned down to kiss him. He'd meant for it to be a light brush of lips, they were in a room full of people and cameras, but Matt looped an arm around his neck and tilted his head. A harsh clearing of the throat next to them had them pulling apart like teenagers caught making out under the bleachers before school.

Matt's embarrassed laugh made Lotor's heart sing. “Let's head back to our table, shall we?” He asked, holding out his free hand. Matt laced their fingers together as they walked.

Ezor grinned when they sat back down. “Ok, I'm convinced. You can keep him.” Matt and Lotor both smiled back at her.

“Ah good. I was worried for a moment.” Lotor replied, turning his smile on Matt. “But since I have your permission…” he leaned in and kissed Matt again.

Matt pulled back with a smile before the kiss could get too heated again. “I dunno how I feel about being a kept man. Shouldn't I get a say in this?” He asked with a laugh.

Lotor laughed too. “Don't worry, darling, I don't have quite enough money to build my own tower for you.” The sarcastic reply had Matt’s cheeks burning with blush.

Acxa groaned. “You guys are gross. I'm going to the bar.” Lotor almost thought she was actually upset for a moment but a quick flash of her teeth in a wry smile told him otherwise. Ezor wiggled her eyebrows at them and followed her.

Matt's hand moved to rest on Lotor's thigh. “So, when are you gonna dance with me?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Lotor looked at him pointedly. “Perhaps a slower song, after several more glasses of champagne.” His emphasis on _perhaps_ did not go unnoticed by Matt.

He slid his half full glass towards Lotor. “Drink up then, angel, papa's got his dancin’ shoes on.”

Lotor covered his hand with his mouth as he laughed. Matt's exaggerated wink didn't help. He ran his hand along Matt's cheek and tucked the same stubborn lock of hair behind his ear again. “I think I've laughed more in the past week than the rest of my life.” He admitted quietly.

Matt's smile turned shy as his cheeks turned red. “Good. I love your laugh.” He answered just as softly, turning to press a kiss to Lotor's palm. Lotor had to look away as the words left Matt’s lips. His earnesty still had Lotor reeling every time. He stalled for time to respond by sipping at his glass of champagne.

Matt took the hint and moved the conversation along and soon two glasses turned to four turned to _several_ as they sat at the table, lost in their own little world. Lotor spent far too much of the evening brushing off coworkers and other party goers. It didn’t take anyone long to see that with Matt nearby, his attention was elsewhere.

Dimly in the back of his mind, he knew there’d be hell to pay from all the flagrant displays of affection, but he couldn’t bring himself to care in the slightest. “We should dance.” He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Matt’s face lit up at the suggestion. “Yes! I’ve been dying to ask again all night!” He leaned forward and pressed their lips together briefly, pulling Lotor out of his seat and towards the dance floor eagerly. He let go and smiled up mischievously. “I’ll ask for something easy.” Lotor laughed and kissed his forehead in thanks.

He came back just as one song ended and his request started. The song was slow and the lighting was dim. Matt’s hair looked like it was glowing a faint gold as he put one of Lotor’s hands on his hip and held the other in the air at their shoulders. He gently squeezed Lotor’s bicep as he completed their starting position and gently swayed. “No big deal. Just like the other night.” He said quietly, his cheeks rosy from alcohol.

Lotor was sure his own cheeks were flushed as well, he was quite tipsy and holding Matt close had an undeniable effect on him. “I think I prefer the kitchen.” He admitted, grumbling under his breath. He couldn’t help but feel like people were staring.

Matt didn’t seem to mind. “Me too. I like your kitchen.” He replied tenderly as they weaved with the music, barely moving their feet.

“I’m not sure I’ll make it that far when we get home.” Matt’s grin widened at his teasing threat.

He rested his head on Lotor’s shoulder. “I’ll be impressed if we make it past the front door after your stunt this afternoon.” He murmured with a chuckle.

Lotor laughed with him. “I’ll make it up to you.” He promised, nudging Matt’s head off of his shoulder so he could lean down and press a kiss to his lips. “It’ll be worth the wait.” The adoring look on Matt’s face made it worth anything in his mind.

They swayed together as the song went on, quietly enjoying the closeness. They were both lost in their own heads, looking forward to the rest of the evening and beyond. The song ended and Lotor found he was reluctant to let go. He squeezed Matt’s hip once before dropping his hands and leaning in to whisper in his ear. “We could go right now.” He tempted.

Matt laughed again. “Well, I did finally get my dance.” He reasoned, pretending to think about it. Lotor rolled his eyes and tugged him by the hand towards the exit. Mercifully, no one stopped them on their way out, though they had to hold onto each other as they made their way across to the dock. Lotor texted his driver and they waited impatiently as she pulled around, lips and hands already determined to end up producing a scandal out of the evening.

Filing into the car, they didn’t bother with seatbelts or even sitting upright as they tangled together. “Front door.” Lotor murmured as Matt tugged at his belt. He groaned, but relented, settling for untucking Lotor’s shirt instead. The driver pulled up to the elevator and stopped before either of them noticed they were anywhere close to his apartment.

Lotor thanked her and slipped a bill that Matt didn’t bother looking at into her appreciative palm, patting the door as she drove off. They barely made it to the elevator before crashing together again. It took several tries to hit the correct floor button.

They stumbled through the door, giggling and tripping over each other in their eagerness. Lotor backed Matt up against it as it shut and pulled off his tie, following his hands with his lips at Matt’s throat. Matt reached up to unbutton his shirt, but Lotor batted his hand away and pulled hard at the fabric, ripping the buttons of yet another shirt. “God, what does your accountant say about your clothing budget?” He grumbled breathlessly as Lotor sucked bruises over top of the ones that had finally almost healed.

“She doesn’t say anything about it.” Lotor replied, dropping to his knees to kiss his way down Matt’s chest and stomach. “She knows I’m good for it.” Matt let his head crash against the door and slammed his eyes shut as Lotor pulled his slacks down his thighs. His reply was stolen from his mouth and replaced with a groan as Lotor took him into his mouth. He grabbed a handful of Lotor’s hair and rocked his hips in time with Lotor’s bobbing head, finally gathering the strength to open his eyes.

Matt’s breaths grew faster until each exhale was punctuated with a quiet moan. Lotor pulled away but made no move to get up. A thin strand of saliva still connected them. “If I let you cum now, how long will it take you to be ready again?” His voice was gruff and rasping.

He blinked twice, trying to figure out how to work his vocal chords. Their eyes locked as he licked his lips. “For what?” He asked, still breathless.

Lotor’s eyes narrowed as he stared up at him. “For a _tea party,_ Matthew. What do you think _for_?” Matt chuckled at his exasperation.

“I meant for you to fuck me, or me to fuck you, smartass. Very different answers.” His buzz made him bolder than he otherwise might have been and he tugged a little on Lotor’s hair.

He didn’t wait any longer for an answer and pushed Matt back against the door, swallowing him down again. Matt watched, enthralled, as he vanished past Lotor’s lips before closing his eyes. He keened and tried to buck his hips, but a firm forearm across them held him in place as Lotor took what he wanted. It was all he could to tighten his hold on Lotor’s hair and moan his name in warning before spilling down Lotor’s waiting throat.

Matt was expecting him to let off as he swallowed, but his pace hardly slowed. He swore under his breath and whimpered from oversensitivity. “Lotor, please, I…” Lotor stopped moving but didn’t release him as he spoke. His eyes bored into Matt’s in silent question. Matt took a few shuddery breaths and licked his lips. “Fuck, ok. Keep going.” He closed his eyes again and felt his thighs shake, breaths coming in ragged gasps.

Lotor finally relinquished him just as he was worried his knees were going to give out. He sank down to the floor before Lotor could stand and rested his head in the crook of his neck. Lotor ran his hands up and down the length of Matt’s back gently. “Was that too much?” He asked quietly.

Matt shook his head emphatically no. “Just intense.” He panted out. “In a good way.” Lotor responded with a light brush of his lips over Matt’s forehead.

“Are you ready for more?” He asked. The dark tone of his voice made Matt shiver. He nodded. Lotor helped him stand and they made their way to the bedroom.

Once inside, Lotor wasted no time relieving Matt of the rest of his clothes. Matt stared up at him in awe from the bed as he pulled off his own. The hungry look in his eyes was just as thrilling as it was concerning. It reminded him of their first night together.

Lotor’s mouth covered his and he could still taste himself on Lotor’s tongue. It was more intoxicating than the irresponsible amount of champagne he’d drunk. Two slick fingers slid inside him urgently and he couldn’t help but turn his head and cry out in surprise. Lotor’s hand stilled. “Don’t stop.” Matt urged before he could ask, rocking his hips frantically. Lotor’s wrist pumped as his fingers stretched Matt open. “I’m ready, please, come on.” He said between heaving breaths.

The fingers slipped out and his lips were captured in another bruising kiss. “Turn around.” Lotor prompted, moving to support himself on his hands and knees. Matt complied as quickly as he could force his limbs to work. Lotor hardly waited for his back to be turned before pushing his way inside. They both cursed as he bottomed out. “Matthew,” He nearly sobbed. “I’ve been aching for this all night.” He murmured into Matt’s ear, gliding his tongue around the outer shell.

“Me too,” Matt choked out. He tensed his thighs and tried to relax in preparation for what he knew was coming next. Lotor felt him shift and started to move, slowly at first but picking up speed as Matt matched his pace. His lips found the sensitive spot between Matt’s shoulders and latched on, leaving alternating sloppy, open-mouthed kisses and licks and hard trailing of his teeth.

Matt’s world narrowed down to their points of contact as he focused on the stretch and slide and burn as Lotor moved. His hands gripped the sheets tightly as they rocked back and forth. “Yes, yes, yes,” The word was on the tip of his tongue as he felt his release draw nearer. _That_ word. He bit his bottom lip hard as he willed himself to say it. He couldn’t.

Lotor sunk his teeth into the back of Matt’s shoulder and suddenly his vision whited out as pleasure erupted in his mind and he came with a cry of Lotor’s name. His shaking arms barely lasted in holding him upright until Lotor could finish as well. They both rolled to the side in a heap, chests heaving.

They spent a long moment tangled together at a strange angle, catching their breaths. “I certainly hope that was worth waiting all day for.” Lotor said with a chuckle.

Matt groaned as he stretched his neck to place a tender kiss to Lotor’s mouth. “Definitely.” He answered with a grin. Lotor smiled back at him and got out of bed to fetch a washcloth.

Lotor’s lips slid against his as he cleaned them both off. He tossed the cloth towards the hamper but missed spectacularly. They both laughed as they made their way under the covers. Whispered good nights seemed to echo around the room as they fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Lotor winced as he pulled the elastic out of his tangled hair. Half of it had come loose while they were otherwise occupied the night before, but he hadn't thought to throw it aside before he fell asleep. Matt stirred next to him. “Mmm I was wondering why I didn't wake up with a mouthful of hair.” He said with a tired smile. Lotor chuckled and swore under his breath as he tugged. “Here lemme help.” His words were still partially slurred with sleep. 

Lotor turned so Matt could reach the offending band, he looped it around a few times, lightly pulling at the strands of hair wrapped around it. It was nice to have someone there to help with such a silly and mundane task. “Ok there's gonna be a few casualties, sorry angel.” He grabbed the elastic in one hand and held a very small bundle of hair in the other to tug it free. 

He winced as he heard the strands snap, making a mental note to set something up with his hairdresser as soon as possible. Matt kissed the spot gently as he held up the band, the torn hair still wrapped around it. “Sorry. I made sure it was all coverable. I knew I should have pulled it out last night.” 

“Thank you.” He said with a fond smile, turning back around to kiss him. 

Matt grinned. “How do you still look so hot even with crazy bed head?” He asked with charming sincerity. 

Lotor closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling. “I think you're a little biased.” He said in response, climbing out of bed. He held out his hand for Matt to take. “Come on, we both desperately need a shower.” Matt took his hand and followed gladly. 

Showering with Lotor was quickly becoming one of Matt's favorite activities. Even, or especially when he really considered it, when they just washed each other's hair and backs, taking their time to enjoy the peacefulness and warmth. It was a long shower, with many soft, soggy kisses. Both of them had pruned skin by the time they got out. 

A late breakfast turned into a lazy early afternoon on the couch, talking about everything and nothing as the TV droned on in the background. They were enjoying the closeness and resting from the eventful evening before. Lotor had plugged his phone in and set it to silent. He knew there would be hell to pay for missing his father's meeting and for the flagrant displays of affection from the night before. The tightness in his chest as Matt yawned and nuzzled into his neck made both matters seem far less pressing. 

The only downside to lazing about on the couch until dinner time was that as the clock struck 6, they were only just really waking up. Lotor hummed thoughtfully and kissed Matt's forehead. “We should get up, I don't want to be up all night.” He said quietly.

Matt smirked up at him. “I could make it worth your while.” He teased as he got up off of the couch and offered Lotor his hand. 

Lotor shook his head but took the offered hand. He didn't let go after he stood up, instead pulling Matt close and leaning down for another searing kiss. “Yes, I'm sure you could.” He said with a chuckle at Matt's answering blush. 

They milled about in the kitchen, scrounging together an easy dinner out of leftovers in the fridge. Lotor pulled a few glasses down out of the cabinet and popped open a fresh bottle of wine to drink while they ate.

Matt chewed at his bottom lip in thought. “I uh…” Lotor looked over at him expectantly. Matt's face flushed. “I almost said it last night.” The floor was suddenly very interesting. 

Lotor cleared his throat and continued pouring their wine. “Said what?” He asked, his feigned innocence not fooling Matt at all. 

“I almost called you…” He trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you know.” 

Lotor took a large sip out of his glass before handing the other to Matt. “Why didn’t you?” It was a tactful answer. Matt didn’t like the way he couldn’t read anything from Lotor’s expression.  

He licked his lips and also took a healthy gulp of his own drink. “I don’t know. It still just... “ He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “It feels super weird.” 

Setting his own glass on the counter, Lotor took the drink out of his hand and set it down as well. He cupped Matt’s chin in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “You don’t have to, you know. It was just a suggestion.” His thumb ran soothingly across Matt’s cheekbone. “I hate to see you so upset over this.” He murmured. 

Matt leaned forward and rested his head against Lotor’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why it bugs me so much.” He wrapped his arms around Lotor’s waist. “I think I’m scared I’ll like it.” He admitted quietly. “Is that super weird?” 

Lotor sighed. “No.” He answered decisively, running his hand over Matt’s hair.

“You hesitated.” Matt accused. 

Lotor shook his head and chuckled, bumping Matt’s head away from his chest lightly so he could look him in the eyes. “It’s not weird. You should try it.” Lotor hoped his skepticism didn’t show on his face. “ _ We _ should try it.” He amended.

Matt wouldn’t have noticed even if it had, his eyes firmly forward, not looking at Lotor’s face. “But before… you sounded like you really didn’t like it.” 

“Perhaps my initial reaction was unfair.” He ran the back of his knuckles down Matt’s cheek and tilted his chin up. “Maybe it’ll surprise us both.” He captured Matt’s lips again before he had a chance to refute the statement. 

They pulled away after the bruising kiss, both a little out of breath. “Maybe tonight then?” Matt asked tentatively, still blushing. 

“We don’t have to wait.” Lotor answered, leaning his head in close again. “Unless you want to.” 

Matt smiled finally. “Let’s go for it.” He replied, punctuating the statement with a kiss. 

Dinner forgotten, Lotor pulled him up by the backs of his thighs and wrapped his legs around his waist, carrying him to the bedroom. Matt laughed as Lotor gently tossed him onto the bed with a teasing smile. They both pulled off their clothes swiftly and wrapped around each other, getting situated on the bed. 

Their lips and hands moved against each other with urgency, both caught up in the heat of the moment. Lotor worked him open carefully, more than a little smug at the now-familiar keens he was able to draw from Matt's mouth with his fingers. Moving line himself up to slip inside, Lotor stilled as Matt pushed his chest lightly. 

His face was flushed a brilliant red as he turned around, sitting up on his hands and knees. Lotor cocked an eyebrow as Matt looked over his shoulder. “I… I don't think I'll be able to do it if I'm looking at you.” He explained quietly.

Lotor smiled and leaned over his back to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Whatever makes you more comfortable.” He assured. 

Matt thanked him, barely whispering. He wasn't quiet for long as Lotor slid inside slowly, his large fingers gripping Matt's hips like a vice. 

They got lost in each other and the rhythm they found together. Starting off quietly with small cries of  _ yes  _ and  _ there  _ and  _ just like that,  _ Matt got louder and louder as they moved against each other. 

Lotor dug his fingers in harder and bit the inside of his cheek, about warn Matt that his window of opportunity for the evening was rapidly closing. “Stop, stop,” Matt grumbled out miserably. 

It took a moment for the words to register, but as soon as they did, Lotor stilled. He leaned up to Matt's face and nosed at his cheek. “Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?” He asked worriedly. 

Matt shook his head. “I don't… I can't do it.” 

Lotor kissed his cheek and gently pulled himself free before settling on his side next to Matt. Matt stayed on his hands and knees, face pressed into the bed. Running a soothing hand down Matt's back, Lotor kissed the side of his face. “What’s wrong, love?” 

Matt turned his head so they were looking eye to eye. He grimaced. “I… I was gonna do it… and then I thought about my dad.” He buried his face back into the sheets. “And now I'm never gonna get a boner again. Ever.” 

Lotor rolled onto his back and laughed. Matt groaned and sat up. “Can we… just watch a movie or something?” He grumbled, not meeting Lotor’s eyes. 

Moving to press a kiss to his forehead, Lotor smiled. “Of course.” 

Matt returned his smile appreciatively. They pulled on sweatpants and t-shirts, heading for the couch. Playfully squabbling over their options, they eventually settled on a sci-fi classic. 

Matt grew restless about halfway through the movie, they’d both seen it a thousand times even if it was the first time they’d watched it together. He ran a tentative hand up and down the length of Lotor’s thigh and looked up at him with a questioning gaze. “Ah, so ‘never’ means about 45 minutes, then?” He asked with a smirk. 

Matt laughed and looked away. “Ok, maybe I was being a little dramatic.” He admitted bashfully. 

Lotor kissed his forehead. “That’s alright, darling. You can be dramatic if you want.” Matt answered him with a kiss as he surged up onto his knees, straddling Lotor’s lap and pushing him against the cushions. 

They both groaned as Matt rolled their hips together, the soft fabric of their sweatpants doing little to buffer the nearly electric contact. Lotor pulled at the hem of Matt’s pants and he slid backwards off the couch to throw them off. Lotor took the opening to push his own down past his knees, only having the chance to take one leg out before Matt resumed his earlier spot. They rocked against each other again, moaning in earnest now that what little barrier there had been was gone. 

Matt placed both hands on Lotor’s shoulders for balance as Lotor took them both in hand, the other engulfing Matt’s hip and stretching him open to the chill air. He shivered and panted, forehead resting against Lotor’s as they both looked down to watch themselves slide against each other in Lotor’s grip. 

He leaned down and licked into Lotor’s mouth, suddenly desperate for more contact. The earlier interruption to their lust suddenly rekindled. Lotor’s hand sped up as both of their hips moved in time with his strokes. Matt closed his eyes, ragged gasps escaping his mouth as he neared release. “Yes, yes.” He groaned. “Please.  _ Daddy _ .” 

Lotor's hand clenched around them as the word left Matt's lips, moving even faster. They both lasted only seconds afterward, collapsing into each other with no regard for mess left on their shirts. A well-timed explosion sounded on the TV as they caught their breath. 

“Uh… I didn't… that was…” Matt groaned and buried his head into Lotor's shoulder. 

Lotor tangled his clean hand in Matt’s hair. “Yes, I think my previous judgment was a bit wrong.” He murmured with a chuckle into the side of Matt’s face as he placed a kiss to his cheek. 

Matt looked up at him, facing burning red. “Really?” The hopeful glint in his eyes had Lotor’s smile widening. 

Moving his hand from Matt’s hair, he cupped his chin. “It was certainly worth exploring.” He answered.

Matt swallowed and chuckled. “Yeah, it was… it was kinda fun.” He muttered under his breath with a guilty smile. 

Lotor pressed a brief kiss to his lips before patting his hip. “We should put on some clean clothes.” He suggested. Matt looked down and grimaced, stepping back off of him again. 

They finally finished their abandoned dinner and headed to bed. Neither of them were particularly tired due to the rather uneventful day, but the bed was comfortable and warm. Matt rested his head on Lotor's chest as they laid together, both playing on their phone and enjoying the closeness. 

Matt was catching up on his Twitter feed when he scrolled past a photo that had blood running cold. “Oh shit…” He trailed off and held the phone up when Lotor hummed in question at his outburst. 

Lotor frowned at the photo. “Vultures.” He growled disdainfully. Someone had already posted an exposé about the two of them at the charity event the evening before. “I'm so sorry about all of this.” He murmured, pressing a kiss into Matt's hair. 

“It's ok. I just… I should probably call my mom. She'll freak out when she sees it.” Matt explained with a sigh. He looked up at Lotor's concerned face with a shy smile. “Don't worry, you're worth it.” He assured with a wink. 

Lotor nodded and leaned down to rest his forehead against Matt's. “Maybe you could call in the morning?” He asked quietly. 

“Sure, angel. I can wait.” Matt tossed his phone to the side and curled around Lotor, nuzzling against his cheek. Lotor set his own phone aside and wrapped his arms around Matt's back, quietly thanking him. 

  
  



End file.
